134. Greater than Gold

[00:00:03] Speaker A: Welcome back to barely DnD, your shorter dungeons and Dragons podcast. We are excited to bring you episode 134 today. I am your resident bard, Jackie Slash Rowena Greenbottle, and it's a beautiful day to play D and D. [00:00:27] Speaker B: It's raining in Dallas. That's fun. [00:00:29] Speaker A: It is. [00:00:29] Speaker C: It's beautiful. [00:00:30] Speaker A: It is. [00:00:31] Speaker C: It is a good day to play D. Kind of chilly. [00:00:33] Speaker B: It's a great kind of rainy. Rainy day. [00:00:36] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. All we need is some cookies. Some hot, fresh cookies and cocoa. I don't know. [00:00:48] Speaker B: Oh, Got to get myself some whiskey in a second. Before we get on with all of our regular rigamarole, I told you guys a while back that I've started playing D and D consistently. Ever. And I'm playing with Daniel. And in our campaign, we had our tech. Our 10th session on Sunday. [00:01:09] Speaker D: Congrats. [00:01:10] Speaker B: And it was the first time I have ever played in a boss fight. And it was us. Us and some NPCs versus multiple giants, which was terrifying. And I just want you guys to know from now on that I have felt. I. I was like, oh, I'm gonna. I'm. I'm Jet. I'm so afraid. I. I was so scared. And I got the nervous farts. And that sounds like a standard Zach joke, but I got, like, nervous. But I farted easily 50 or 60 times while I was at his house. I had to keep excusing myself from being able to walk outside to fart. Yeah. Anna walked back up from stairs. She was like, it smells like farts in here. [00:01:53] Speaker A: Their poor home. [00:01:55] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. And we won. And none of our characters died, which they were gonna. [00:02:03] Speaker A: What level are you on? [00:02:05] Speaker B: Well, we just leveled up after it. Now we're level six. We were level five. Okay, cool. And my bard, I made him to be mechanically, almost useless. Like, he's just. He's just marginal at everything except a couple social skills. And he has no combat spells. All of his spells are support. His only combat spell is vicious mockery. But in a desperate move to save our DMN PC, I jumped off a roof, grabbed a Goliath, and suplexed him off of a second story. And it worked. And that was the coolest thing I've ever done in D and D. But then my guy got stabbed. [00:02:40] Speaker C: Got stabbed in the butt. [00:02:42] Speaker B: Both butt cheeks. [00:02:43] Speaker C: It's because he was farting so much, they knew exactly where to find it was. [00:02:47] Speaker B: And that's. That's poetic justice. I just wanted to. Yeah. Do you have a letter question, Grabby? [00:02:56] Speaker C: I do. My Letter question is, what would your. If your character lived in the real world and drove a car, what would their worst driving habit be? [00:03:07] Speaker A: Oh, I love this. I love this so much. [00:03:12] Speaker C: My pitch for the NPC is nifty. [00:03:17] Speaker A: I like that. I like that a lot. [00:03:20] Speaker B: Approved. [00:03:24] Speaker A: Someone keeps messing. Okay. For the listener. While the other players think of their thing real quick. We have a. We have a. A mass like Excel sheet where we put all of our inventory now. And someone keeps messing with mine, and I don't know who. I have a feeling it's Landon because it keeps changing on mine. But also now I was. I was just going through my inventory and just randomly under all of my stuff that's like very, like, serious and everything it says, I have a banana, and I don't even know if my character knows what a banana is. [00:04:03] Speaker D: That's Landon. [00:04:04] Speaker A: That's so you know what bananas are. [00:04:08] Speaker D: Oh, my gosh. [00:04:10] Speaker A: I'm like, what happened here? [00:04:12] Speaker D: Yep. [00:04:12] Speaker A: Anyway, as the individual I grew up. [00:04:14] Speaker B: With. [00:04:16] Speaker C: The fonts changing is like tell. [00:04:19] Speaker A: Yeah. Anyway, I'm sorry. Had to call out Landon while he's not here. [00:04:24] Speaker B: Laws sheet has information. Rose sheet has information. Greta's sheet has information. Craig's sheet has six cells filled. The first one says item. Below it says some poop quantity in his pocket. Note, is it dinky? That's what's on Craig's sheet. [00:04:38] Speaker C: I think Landon. [00:04:42] Speaker B: Boss is not to. Not to outland. But Boss's sheet, he has a bunch of like, it's all. First of all, none of it's organized. He has it all just down in a list. Just item, item, item, item, item, item. Which gives me. Makes me a little anxious. Second of all, his. His. His descriptions are amazing. So like next to his. His pixie council ring description says, I'm politician. Next to dagger of double animal speaking. It says talk to animals, but only when you. [00:05:14] Speaker A: When you. [00:05:14] Speaker B: Next to. Next to. Next to all of his money, the note says money, money, money. [00:05:26] Speaker A: Money. [00:05:28] Speaker B: Next to bee enclosure, it says my bbs. Then he has. Okay, so next to all of his different like mushrooms. So next to the fortunate fold kombucha he has brewed by a pirate. Next to the blue and white crazy psychedelic mushrooms he has get lit fast. That's the only thing it says. [00:05:53] Speaker A: I would also like to say that he put at the top of his this is boss's time. Use your own. [00:06:02] Speaker D: Love it. [00:06:03] Speaker B: Very about it. All right, well. [00:06:09] Speaker D: I have an answer for the. [00:06:11] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Hit me. [00:06:12] Speaker D: So he would play. He would play Clash Royale while driving. [00:06:18] Speaker A: Oh, no. Yeah. [00:06:23] Speaker B: Awful. Because that requires a lot of attention. That's really bad. [00:06:29] Speaker C: It's so funny. [00:06:30] Speaker B: I wasn't prepared for something that bad. [00:06:36] Speaker C: Greta would. She would always be drinking from, like, an open coffee cup. Just, like, a mug. [00:06:42] Speaker B: Oh, my goodness. [00:06:43] Speaker C: She would, like, drive around with a tanker. [00:06:45] Speaker B: Just going down the road with a tanker. [00:06:47] Speaker C: Just do that. [00:06:49] Speaker A: That's what Abby does in real life. [00:06:51] Speaker C: How did you know that? How did you know that you shouldn't? [00:06:56] Speaker A: Because I've met up with you places, and you have, like, just a normal mug sitting on your dash, and I'm like, why do you have a mug in the car? And you're like, I was drinking coffee. And I was like, what's up? [00:07:07] Speaker D: What. [00:07:09] Speaker B: Fun fact about that. Actually, you should stop. [00:07:14] Speaker C: I have a coffee cup now. But it's really. It's still kind of fun. I do it for the thrill. I thought about taking up eating oatmeal on my way to work. Oh, girl, I don't think I can swing that one. [00:07:26] Speaker B: Abby's driving to work. I'm just balancing a pot of soil. [00:07:31] Speaker C: I do. I drive with dirt in my car sometimes because I have to take the plants from my work to the bookstore. [00:07:35] Speaker B: Why did I. I had to. That was a ridiculous thing to say. I should have known. I can then. [00:07:42] Speaker C: If you ever come into my car and the shotgun seat is. Is covered in potting soil, you become the plant. Yeah. [00:07:53] Speaker D: Fun fact. One time. One time I went to. I went to dnd, and me and her. She picked me up, and I got out, and. And I was sitting on a huge butcher knife. A huge butcher knife. I'm not even kidding. I. I had sat on a huge butcher, and we just. [00:08:11] Speaker B: I don't. [00:08:11] Speaker C: I feel like I don't remember why. [00:08:14] Speaker D: That was in my car. I. I don't know. But I got out, and I was like, have I been sitting on it the whole time? How did that get there? How did I not see that? How did I not know sitting on that? [00:08:25] Speaker B: That's Abby. [00:08:26] Speaker C: I don't remember why that was bad. [00:08:28] Speaker B: That's really bad. You left a knife in the seat and then said, I don't sit in the seat. [00:08:34] Speaker C: I don't. [00:08:34] Speaker B: I mean, nobody else put it in your car bell and stick a knife in your car. That was you, bud. [00:08:42] Speaker C: I remember, like, Micah getting up, and we were like, oh. But I don't remember why I got there. [00:08:48] Speaker B: Micah got up, and we both went, oh. [00:08:51] Speaker C: There must have been some reason that I needed. [00:08:53] Speaker D: Was it a kitchen knife close to being murdered? [00:08:57] Speaker A: I don't think you ever need a. A kitchen knife of any kind in the front seat of your car. [00:09:02] Speaker B: Why did you have a butcher's knife? [00:09:04] Speaker A: Unless you're Michael Myers Apples. [00:09:08] Speaker C: I think it might have been apple. It was probably apple. [00:09:11] Speaker A: Cut it before you get in the car, girl. [00:09:14] Speaker B: What? To be honest, I need to light a fire this evening, so I brought a lit butane torch, and I put it in my passenger. No. Light the fire when you're lighting the fire. Dude, what the heck, buddy? Greta's. Greta's pockets of holding just are Abby's car. That's. That's where all the things she puts in there go. [00:09:36] Speaker A: They fall into Abby's knife. Dirt. Multi sandwich. [00:09:41] Speaker B: What's. What's Rose. What's Rose? [00:09:45] Speaker A: Dangerous, I think. [00:09:46] Speaker B: I guess they're all dangerous now. [00:09:48] Speaker A: I feel as though Roe would have a few and, like, none of the rest of the party would want to drive with her. Like, I feel like she probably, like, always forgets to buckle, which doesn't work now in, like, our cars, you know, because they ding. But, like, I feel like she would always have the music turned up way too loud. She'd always be, like, loud. Yeah. And she'd get, like, really into, like, a conversation or something and just always be missing her exit. And, like, she. She, like, refuses to use GPS because. Because she has keen mind, but it'll be, like, someplace she's never been, and she'll be like, no, I can figure it out. And then she. 30 minutes. [00:10:36] Speaker B: This is a good answer. All of that made so much sense. [00:10:41] Speaker A: And there'd be, like, every time you guys go. Rappers and gum wrappers everywhere. [00:10:45] Speaker B: Oh, every time you go to drive somewhere tell, it's just like. No, it's okay. I'll get the bus. No, no. Greta's going to pick me up. I mean, it's not a lot better, but, you know. Really? [00:10:59] Speaker A: No. [00:11:02] Speaker B: I like that a lot. What? I'm gonna answer for nifty in. In honor. In Landon's honor. [00:11:10] Speaker C: What. [00:11:10] Speaker B: What's bosses. Even though Landon's not here. What's boss's. The problem is, I think if boss is such a safe driver. [00:11:17] Speaker C: Yeah, but he's so unpredictable. [00:11:22] Speaker A: You know what it is? [00:11:23] Speaker D: He goes 45 in the highway. [00:11:26] Speaker C: That might be it. [00:11:27] Speaker D: On the highway in the right lane. [00:11:30] Speaker C: I could also see he keeps his. [00:11:33] Speaker D: Blinker on just in case. [00:11:35] Speaker C: That's all he drives with his hazards in the rain. [00:11:38] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [00:11:39] Speaker B: He turns. He turns his blinker on two blocks before the exit. [00:11:43] Speaker A: I was. [00:11:44] Speaker C: I think you might also, like, Just get distracted by like, there's like a bug in his car and he's. He's like at a stoplight and he's. [00:11:52] Speaker B: Like, anytime he's driving, he just flower. [00:11:59] Speaker A: I could also see him always like, boz, like, refuses to get gas until he's on like four miles to empty. Always. [00:12:09] Speaker C: Yeah, he's just like. [00:12:10] Speaker A: And we're like, get gas. And boss is like. [00:12:12] Speaker C: He's like, I'm too busy. [00:12:14] Speaker B: I have a time. Some. [00:12:15] Speaker C: There. [00:12:23] Speaker B: Are good answers. Okay, Nifty. What's Nifty's thing? I mean, just I feel like it wouldn't be allowed to have a license. Like, what's. What's Nifty's dangerous driving habit. Driving. [00:12:33] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:12:35] Speaker B: I think. I think the problem would be that Nifty just would not be deeply invested in the road. So, I mean, like Clash Royale. I think Nifty would just be working on Spellcra while driving. Like, I think, I think first of all, there would always be. There would always be a reused, like, butter container of heated up beans he was eating from. And so like, that would be its own hazard on so many levels. But also there would just be a spell book to the right. And every once in a while he'd just be reading it and you'd be like, oh, my goodness, the road. He'd be like, I know where I'm going. And then, you know, it's just. Yeah. I think every ride with him would feel like the last ride of your life, but. But he still somehow never crashes. Feels like the thing until he crashes into a lich that kills him. But otherwise I feel like. Side note, every ride with my grandmother, my whole life has felt like the last ride of my life because she spent most of her life driving into Brazil and then she got back to the United States and she was like, it can change to me. And just like she drives everything like it. Like it's nascar, but also not with that level of skill and gets easily distracted. And I can just remember like, like all the time as a kid just being like. I'm afraid. [00:13:57] Speaker A: I will say I drive differently. Left her living in California for like almost eight years. Like, I call it a California yellow because like on a, on a, on a turn, you know, like when it's like a yellow turn or whatever, they'll be like, Tor 12 people go through it, whereas here people will stop when it's yellow. [00:14:20] Speaker B: Oh, when you started that idea, I was empathizing with you, and now I don't like it. [00:14:24] Speaker A: Yeah, my mom My mom has gotten onto me, but I've gotten better. I've gotten better at readjusting. [00:14:32] Speaker B: I went to. I went to a light the other day, and we have to start playing DND soon or else people are gonna be like, I didn't come here for this. I went to a light the other day. And after the. I mean, in Dallas, everybody just runs the reds now. One car always runs the red. And I don't know what that's about. I guess it's the people moving here from now from Dallas. But we hit a red and three more cars just went, 1, 2, 3. And I was just like, what? [00:14:52] Speaker A: It happens in California. [00:14:54] Speaker B: I was like, I have to pray now because I want to fight you. [00:14:56] Speaker C: Like every time. [00:14:59] Speaker B: It's not the more pains I read in my life, but holy. Like, I'm talking about, like, it turned red and three seconds later, someone's just rolling through. [00:15:06] Speaker A: And you're like, yeah, that's a California yellow. [00:15:08] Speaker C: Wow. You guys not get like pulled over for running red lights? [00:15:14] Speaker A: They don't in California film. Like, they pretty much. It's all parking tickets. Like, you usually don't get pulled over for running a red light or something because there's no place for them to pull you over because it's so crowded. So like everyone. It'll just be like 12 people go through the. Go through the light. And like, there'll be a police officer standing right there. And people just do it. And they're not going to wild. But don't. Don't do it, guys. I'm not. I'm not. [00:15:41] Speaker B: I like that we do it. I like that in California we're prioritizing the right thing. I like that we're getting the parking tickets but not the red lights. [00:15:49] Speaker A: You're. They say that you're not. I got a parking ticket the first year I lived there, and I think I got two or three the whole time I lived there. But they say you're not like a true LA native until you've gotten your first parking ticket because it's so ridiculous out there. Parking tickets are great. [00:16:07] Speaker B: Well, this is episode 134 of the Accidental Adventures. Parking ticket. Oh, no. This is episode 134 of the Accidental Adventures. Greater than gold. [00:16:26] Speaker A: You mean Greta. Than gold. [00:16:34] Speaker B: Sorry. Probably not a great idea for my voice right before I DM. This is a level 12 adventure. [00:16:42] Speaker A: The date is 3477 for everyone. [00:16:46] Speaker B: 12.77. The date is 3488 Sihadrond the second. Because we're in we're in that month. [00:16:57] Speaker A: Now, which means it is last month of fall. Top. [00:17:04] Speaker B: Yes. Oh, my goodness. That's scary. I was about to say that. Holy crap, Jackie. [00:17:09] Speaker C: I like. That's my favorite day of the week. [00:17:11] Speaker B: Opep. Yeah. There are a lot of things I've named, and I've never regretted one so much as that, but, yeah, because every time I bring it up, everyone's like, dub. And I'm like, I know I messed up. [00:17:26] Speaker C: Oh, I like it. I like it. [00:17:30] Speaker B: I don't know. The first time I introduced you and Landon was like, did you say top? And I was like, ah, being the dm. [00:17:37] Speaker A: It's the weekend. Not that that matters for us adventurers. [00:17:43] Speaker B: But it really has nothing to do with your lives. [00:17:46] Speaker C: I'm having an adventure for a day. [00:17:50] Speaker A: We don't get weekends. [00:17:53] Speaker B: You know, back in my day, we had to fight Dolgoth both ways. What should we be on? I don't know. We had to be like, go up the hill both. It wasn't sometimes talking, you don't know where it's going. [00:18:06] Speaker A: I get it. [00:18:07] Speaker B: Okay, Jackie, is that an Angry Orchard? I would take a sponsorship from Angry Orchard. I mean, they couldn't care less, but I'd take one. Oh, the doggos. Hi, dog. [00:18:25] Speaker C: The one that. The one closest to me is Koda, and the other one is bb. They're gonna bark at me when I sit over here. [00:18:38] Speaker B: Okay, BB Koda and Pee Pee. This is my toe popping. You can't take it from me. You good, Abby? That was a dog ate her on Scream. [00:18:53] Speaker A: She's gone now. [00:18:55] Speaker C: No, my yarn started to fall off. What do you think? [00:19:01] Speaker A: Guys? My Discord finally updated. [00:19:06] Speaker B: Great. Do you want. Do you want to transfer from one to the other for the sake, or are you, like, your goodness? No, I mean, it's going fine right now. [00:19:14] Speaker A: Yeah, it seems to be going okay. [00:19:16] Speaker B: Should I In case that feels like a second session? [00:19:18] Speaker A: I don't know. [00:19:19] Speaker C: I think it's okay. [00:19:22] Speaker A: I'm not gonna mess with it. [00:19:24] Speaker B: Abby hasn't used a mic in years. Let's just. We are where we are. Oh, Abby, I found the extra mic, so the next time we're in person. Oh, cool. [00:19:34] Speaker C: And maybe you can help me troubleshoot, because I've done. I've tried anything, and I don't think. I think I would have gotten it if it was figured outable. [00:19:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, probably. Also, it's not like your audio is bad or anything, but. So now that we're half an hour into the session and we haven't started the words of the well, you guys no longer. Well actually you do. You do still stand at the like mid bottom of a lake. A water soaked stone path is beneath you. Walls of waves folding in on themselves and pushing away stand to you at either side like you're in the middle of Prince of Egypt, except much shallower and darker, murkier, smellier waters. And in front of you is that smooth stone, yellowish stone wall. And it curves up the water covers the rest of whatever edifice lies here. You just have enough for the archway of this door. And you're in this tunnel of water lit by the spellcraft you have around you. And a stone door has slid up and away after Greta deciphered the runic guard on it and muttered the correct word, ish. And standing in front of you in front of a long stone hallway, attack of the yard. Oh yeah, is that the engine? Standing in front of you in the hallway is a robed figure. She is kind of mid, middle aged, you know, right in the middle of middle aged looking. Except she appears to be half elven or elven with less elvish features. So her exact age would be of course a bit of a conjecture. Well, I guess it is for any person. And she has, she has light brown skin, those half spectacles, those kind of like half readers under her eyes that pull back into thin wires and buckle around her lightly pointed ears. The sides of her head are shaved or shorn on the side, not all the way down to her scalp, just shorn flat. And then all the hair in the middle is tied back into a fishtail braid that goes a long ways down her back and it's streaked with little bits of gray against its wiry black feature. She has a prominent nose that her glasses rest on. Her face is rather smoothed and wide and broad and none of the features are very strongly defined. And she has a very calm demeanor. She's wearing off of her shoulders this mantled sort of monastic robe set that is a dark brown base with a light green trim at its edges. And they just sit in folds and layers and they have these long heavy, oh my goodness sleeves that come down to those very classic long bag droops. And her hands are folded in them. And sitting on her chest above the investments is a symbol of Ioun hanging from a chain, not sterling gold or anything, just like iron. And it doesn't appear to be magical, more a symbol in the most purely symbolic sense. And when the stone door slid up, she just said, I could not remember less. The voice I used. And the episodes haven't been published, so we're doing this on the spot. She just said, greta Small star, welcome. We have awaited you. The water is still falling down from where the door lifted and the hallway is just behind her. She's just giving an almost neutral smile as you all stand in this tunnel of water. [00:23:31] Speaker C: Fred is going to give a little bow and gonna say hello. And looks back at her teammate and. [00:23:44] Speaker B: The rest of the world look back. [00:23:46] Speaker C: Look. Look back at the. At the lady, you mean. [00:23:50] Speaker B: I've been calling you guys as well. You're the fun guys. I'm sorry. We had a big session last time and then it's. I don't want to talk about it. You're the fun guys. I know that. [00:24:02] Speaker C: Yeah. So she. She looks back at the fun guys and then looks back at them. [00:24:06] Speaker B: There's just a really long awkward pause as all the fungi's just stare in silence. And then as you look back, I. [00:24:11] Speaker A: I kind of nod to the sure. [00:24:14] Speaker B: I mean I'm cool with awkward pauses. Those are funny too. [00:24:16] Speaker A: The lady and I say, are we allowed to come in with her? [00:24:27] Speaker B: It would be very rude to let you drown in the. The lake. Otherwise. [00:24:31] Speaker A: Okay. [00:24:33] Speaker B: And I agree Ro just aside kind of out of your way. And like her arms remain folded in her cloak, but she just steps like to a side allowing you all to pass by. I assume the group walks forward. And as you pass in this hallway is just like one arched stone hallway. Very simple. The stone from the outside looked very worked. But this interior, it doesn't look uncarved. But it also doesn't look like stacked stone. It doesn't look like this was built up out of the base of the lake. It looks like it was kind of built from some stone. It looks like it was carved out of some sort of a stone structure remaining here in the center of lake. So maybe there was even a stone structure, something. Some stone prominent feature in the middle of the lake that they built into perhaps. And as you guys walk forward, it gets dark pretty quickly and it just kind of trails off into total black. After a short time as all of you guys pass in, she mutters Greta, what you recognize to be the word which you said to open the door. She mutters it backward and the door behind you. And when it seals, you all stand in total darkness, save for only the magical light you brought with you. Star splinter. Gleaming blue, which is more than bright enough. Perhaps Boz's sort of bedazzled skin. But otherwise it's just dark. Perhaps Greta's like, cantrip, and she moves to the front of your group and just starts walking, leading you all forward. And you all are just walking down the stone tunnel to a length. It seems to meet up ahead. You can see with the light a pretty quick right corner. But this is all you see for the moment, being part of doing anything as you walk or just walking quietly, a completely viable option. You may do. So. [00:26:48] Speaker A: Abby, you're. [00:26:49] Speaker B: Abby, you're muted. [00:26:50] Speaker C: This is the way I think Greta's just walking quietly, probably looking around a lot to see, like, the walls and. [00:26:59] Speaker B: Stuff as you all walk down the hallway. Oh, go ahead, Micah, go. No, go get him. [00:27:06] Speaker D: Actually, actually, I think that Craig feels really awkward about how loud his armor is. So he just makes really awkward small talk. [00:27:15] Speaker A: He goes, so. [00:27:19] Speaker D: Like, these stones. You know, I worked in mining, and these are pretty nice stones. I would know the thing about stones pretty good. What are they stones? [00:27:30] Speaker B: I mean, she's leading a ways. I would know, Greta being the nearest one. And so. Oh, do you want to make a stone cutting check, Greg? [00:27:40] Speaker D: No, I think he's asking her about the stones, but then he's like, crap, I should know about the stones. [00:27:47] Speaker B: Okay, I see what you're saying. She doesn't even look back. You just hear over her shoulder. I am not well versed in stonecraft. I believe it was some indigenous stone, but I'm not familiar. [00:28:03] Speaker D: That's okay. So how long have you been here? [00:28:15] Speaker B: She only responds, my entire life. [00:28:19] Speaker C: Ooh. [00:28:21] Speaker B: As you all walk, you notice no sconces, nothing. It is. There are no torches. It is before you all must have arrived, it would have been entirely dark. And the tunnel begins to constrict a bit so that it's only like two people walking a breadth at shoulder wide. And as you all are looking around, you start to notice that there are indentions carved into the wall. Small dotted patterns. And when I say small, not actually too small. If you laid your hand over a set of them, your hand, most people's hands would generally cover them. There's little clusters of them carved into the wall, dug in. Some of them are in vaguely sort of hexagonal patterns. Others quickly get much more complex. And they're just like pitted carved holes in little patterns. And you notice that as she walks forward, she reaches her hand out and touches the wall and just feels them with her hand and then continues to walk. And very soon the chamber opens up and the open throat of the stonework starts to split to either side. And you all reach quickly a Path that forks into three. And she makes no visual observation, even as you all have all of the lighting. Thank you, Hava. Even as you all have all the lighting resources to see where you're going. She makes no visual note. She just touches the stone on the wall with her hand, and from it she makes the right turn. And then as you all. Do you want to say something to them? No? Okay. That was all. She makes the right turn and continues down the path. And this path, too, not after long, branches into a T intersection. She feels the symbols on the wall, and she seems to feel a few, makes a decision and moves with it. Very soon, you all reach a shallow stairwell that leads up to a second floor, and there is one to its left that leads down. And she feels the stone markings on the wall and then chooses the upward path. And you all continue on a circuitous route through which appears quickly to be like a labyrinthine pattern. Like there. There is a complex maze. And you all continue forward in what would otherwise be complete darkness if there was no one lighting the path here. Now, perhaps she has a light source of your own you haven't seen. She hasn't produced one. But you all traverse at a reasonable clip, this pathway for a good like 12, 15 minutes. And she's. And these. These pathways branch into so many different directions, and she appears to be managing them all by feeling the patterns in the wall. There must be some sort of a memorized set she knows, or a pattern to them she's working out as she goes, like knowing the algorithms for a Rubik's Cube or something. But should she not have a light source to have done this in the dark, to have learned this path by feel, would take years. And very interestingly, there are even a few turns and intersections you make that she doesn't touch the wall for. And you get the feeling that it's just. She's just done this walk enough. It also occurs to you easily enough that this is probably not a place prone to visitors. So this has to be largely practice more than function. Unless the Temple of Ioun is just getting constant visitors ro there. I can't even imagine a purpose for this. But can you make an intelligence check of your choice? I mean, well, not of your choice, because arcana and religion don't make a lick of sense here. You can make a history check, I guess, if you want, or intelligence saving throw one of those. Well, saving throw. [00:32:42] Speaker A: Make a rumor history or no. [00:32:44] Speaker B: No, not even a little bit. I offered it to you, if anything. And the more I thought about it. It doesn't make any sense. You can make a history check for me if you want. [00:32:50] Speaker A: Okay. All right. That's a dirty 20O. [00:32:59] Speaker B: Okay. Well, for you is an infinitely lower DC than everyone else. You have keen mind, and that allows you to remember everything in the last month. This is a pretty circuitous route, so this challenges even you as you go. I mean, it gets complicated fast, and you start to realize that visually, many of these intersections are designed to look like each other. And at times, it's hard to tell whether or not she's even doubling back on the path she's taken. You go up and then down and then left, and then left again, and then left again and then left again. But you are able to memorize this pattern. I don't know what it would serve you, but you could reverse this pattern on a way out, should you need to, or on the way in. [00:33:39] Speaker A: Abby. It's like the hallways of Severance, the Severance floor. [00:33:43] Speaker C: It is. [00:33:45] Speaker A: I'm sorry, Severance. [00:33:47] Speaker B: That's. That's fleabag, right? [00:33:50] Speaker A: So you've got this new fleabag. [00:33:53] Speaker C: You've got this one. [00:33:54] Speaker B: I think it's the same thing. [00:33:55] Speaker C: And you have to pick a team, and there's a right team and there's a wrong team, and everybody thinks that their team is right and wrong. Actually, there's not a right. [00:34:05] Speaker B: What is the. Were you gonna say something, Jackie, or. [00:34:09] Speaker A: I was gonna say, as we're, like, walking and I'm, like, figuring this out, and I'm gonna ask her, I'm gonna say, is, is it dumb this way to keep people out the halls? [00:34:30] Speaker B: She nods and simply says, many magics are used where simple complexity does far better. And as your minds move backward to the traps that almost killed you in the bewildering keep you go. Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. [00:34:52] Speaker C: Can you repeat that line? That was just so cool. [00:34:54] Speaker B: I want to. Yes. Many magics are used where mere complexity will do. [00:35:03] Speaker C: I like that. [00:35:04] Speaker A: I do, too. [00:35:11] Speaker B: And you all do this for quite some time until you reach this. This, like, kind of central nexus point. And the really weird thing about the nexus point you reach is that there's more than one pathway that lead to it. So there's like. Like a. Like a. A cylindrical meeting chamber that many of the different walkways lead to. So it's like multiple paths would have led here, which kind of starts to seem to challenge the point of the labyrinth. But she walks out of the one she does and walks into the open space, and it is this large, maybe kind of ten twelve foot tall, cylindrical room. More stone. This one starts to look a little more worked a little more sculpted. Could I get perception checks from whoever's interested? Perception or investigation? [00:36:03] Speaker C: As you walk, I would like to proceed. [00:36:06] Speaker A: I would too. [00:36:07] Speaker D: Me too. [00:36:14] Speaker C: Can I use my passive. [00:36:19] Speaker B: Okay, in this instance? Actually, yes, we can. [00:36:25] Speaker C: Is this passive perception or passive investigation? [00:36:29] Speaker B: Whichever. In this instance, I will take both, actually. [00:36:33] Speaker A: Okay, then that'd be a 20 for me. [00:36:36] Speaker C: 21. [00:36:38] Speaker D: Got a 17. [00:36:41] Speaker A: That's still really good. [00:36:43] Speaker B: Yeah, man. Craig's graph has trended upward in the last year. As you all walk into the space, Craig, you do not quite notice because the DC was 20, but at the trim of the archway of all the other doors are small glyphs carved into the very edges. You get the feeling you can make it all the way through the labyrinth on those. On those paths. But perhaps something happens if you walk through those archways. She moves to the one she does. And as she makes it to the center of the room, there is a pretty complicated. Oh, my goodness. What's the word for this? I taught it to myself recently, but now. Now I've forgotten it. Okay, give me a second. I have to make a peepee. Poo. Poo. Quick, somebody role play or entertain listener. Entertain. [00:37:47] Speaker A: Rose trying to memorize the glyphs. Just. [00:37:49] Speaker B: Oh, I remembered it on my own, remember? [00:37:51] Speaker A: Okay, never mind. She's not doing that. [00:37:53] Speaker B: The floor is highly tessellated. There is a really complicated broken geometric comp. Like. Like it's. It's like a. It's like a. Like a tile pattern on the stone floor. But it is so messy and complicated. And she bends down and feels around on it and starts rearranging pieces until they make the shape of an eye. And then she arranges the pieces inside of it until they make a perpendicular eye. And then she arranges the much smaller pieces in that until they make. The eyes are getting increasingly abstract, less exact, but an eye. An eye. And then just like the way you all got in here. And when she finishes the fourth iteration, at this point, only a couple inches across, there's a very dull like around the room. And the floor at the edges seems to rise and twist before you all realize that you in the center are descending and you just twist and elevator. [00:39:02] Speaker A: Nice. [00:39:03] Speaker B: And as you all stop after maybe another 20ft, this very thin field of force just over the top of where you all are above you. And then the floor just begins receding in step to make this spiraling staircase at the edge of the space that's going around Descending into darkness. [00:39:27] Speaker C: Wow. So there's like a few. [00:39:31] Speaker B: Yeah, like. Like the floor went down in a tube kind of. And then when it reached the bottom, it's like a field of force filled the top so that nothing could come behind it. And then the floor, walls. This place is quite gorgeous. [00:39:46] Speaker A: Like, very unlock and key. [00:39:50] Speaker B: And she. Now, as this space reaches the state it's in, everything is still quite dark other than the light you're bringing. And she turns back to you all and she says, do you wish to continue with your light source or would you like mine? It makes no difference. [00:40:12] Speaker C: We can't turn Boz off, Right? I'm asking as a player. [00:40:16] Speaker B: Boz definitely can. [00:40:19] Speaker C: Boss. Can. [00:40:21] Speaker B: Yeah, he can. It's his is willingly creating light or dimming it. If he couldn't, that would be a massive impediment on his character. [00:40:30] Speaker D: He can never hide. That'd be terrible. [00:40:33] Speaker B: Yeah. In darkness, he would just shine everywhere. That would be awesome. [00:40:35] Speaker A: Just put a blanket over. [00:40:40] Speaker C: I. I think Greta would just. Just look at the party because she. I don't think she has a light source. She's not casting light right now. [00:40:51] Speaker D: I put my. I put my sword in the sheath. [00:40:54] Speaker B: Craig just re. She Boz dims and she just whispers something and then holds her palm out for herself. And you all couldn't see an eye tattooed in the palm of her hand. Lights up with a pale green light. Just fills the space. And it's not too much, but she just holds her hand out in front of her and starts walking down the spiraling staircase. I assume you all follow behind. [00:41:21] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:41:22] Speaker B: Okay. More solemn, quiet walking. Or at least it would be were it not for the always with you. Forever. Always. I can't. I can't overemphasize how much. And really, the point is, Craig's been Palladini for a bit now. Yes. Yes. And also that from Boz's shoes, the stealth days for the fun guys are so gone. [00:41:48] Speaker C: He might as well go all the time. [00:41:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:41:53] Speaker B: I can't emphasize enough how much the sound of the armor has really started to disappear for you all. Like, it's been almost a month of this, and it's actually more. I think. Yeah, I think more than a month now. It's really starting to sound like white noise to you all. Like you're starting to not notice it, even as thunderously loud as it is. And now that it can bounce back. Back off of narrow walls. Oh, yeah, there it is. It's really loud. You all continue down a ways, and soon, different light Sources from below begin to greet you. And she like closes her palm and the light goes away and she puts it back in her sleeve. And as she walks further down, the path reaches. You're starting to be met by a warm orangish light with a sort of woody smell. It smells like fire. And as you reach the bottom of this opening way, it spills out into this broad open throated hall sort of chamber. It is long also. You guys walked down five or six stories of flights worth of. I mean, you know, it's not really like switching back into clear flights, but like five or six stories of stairs worth. So this place goes down. I mean it. You are already at the bottom of this lake. [00:43:14] Speaker A: Is it getting chillier? [00:43:17] Speaker B: Not particularly. It reaches a cool neutral temperature and then doesn't plunge. Like the moment you came in, it was cool. It hasn't really reached a lot further because the stone reaches a consistent temperature and then doesn't plunge a lot more. But as you start to enter into this hallway, it warms slightly a bit. And you all walk into this space that's like roughly the length of a football field, maybe a football field and a half. It's maybe 30 or 40ft wide. It has an arched ceiling. And now everything looks like worked stone. A dark gray, highly clean and even very much sort of like the bowels of some castle. And it's just an open stone room. Now there are torches all down the way, warmly lighting the space. There is a great sort of fire pit in the very center of the space, opening up warm. Whatever's burning here smells really good. It's like some sort of like a mesquite water or something. Some. Some acacia relative. It smells excellent. Is it wood? [00:44:27] Speaker A: Check. [00:44:30] Speaker B: Do you want to. [00:44:31] Speaker A: No, I don't think Ro would be able to figure out. I just. [00:44:35] Speaker B: In fact, I know what wood is and I don't think any of you. It would be ridiculous, Jack. But you could try. [00:44:41] Speaker A: It just made me think of it because like rock. Check. Wood. Check. It was. I don't know. Whatever. Okay, I'm done. [00:44:53] Speaker B: From this space, this. This long hall branches off into many paths. There are probably 10 different hallways. Sort of like four. Four on the left side, four on the right, and two branching away from the end. And none of them are guarded by doors. They are all just stone archways and you are. They're just long halls and the space is huge. And they appear to lead into many other spaces. And there is no hailing, no title above anything. Just a massive open central room. Arches that Lead to other spaces. This place when like temples can be small, temples can be big. Ethmund Kai's was sizable. Obviously the one of the old ones was immensely big. But this is very quickly appearing to meet that scale it be larger. And the other thing worth mentioning is that when you all reach the bottom of this, this sort of nexus space to connecting to so many others. There's probably 20 or 30 people in here. The all of them robed. Now not all the robes are the same. Some are much heavier and layered and have more to them more festoonments investing. Some of them have belts around the centers that have scrolls in them. Some of them are carrying book sleeves, book slings across their chests. Some of the individuals are walking around with like writing implements. There are other individuals here who. Some. Some are wearing robes that are sleeveless and even sort of like cut away down to kind of like midway down the rib, down the ribs. And all the robes have similar matching colors. But not all seem to be designed for the same function. Also some of the individuals here are very fit. No one looks out of shape. It looks like life here involves a lot of walking, which is true of a lot of people at this time in Yalabin. I mean many people are in fairly good shape at this point in history, but some of the people here look like athletes. Many people walking are very toned, very lean. Some are openly quite muscular. And the space is. It's not loud, but it has sound where much of the rest of the temple was very silent up till now. The fire crackles in that massive fire pit in the middle. The torches burn and pop. There is very far sound of dim speech. No one here appears to be shouting. Everyone talking to each other is getting close, talking quietly. [00:47:47] Speaker A: Are they speaking of common or different languages? [00:47:51] Speaker B: Well, we'll get to that in just a second, but that is a good question. That is a good question. [00:47:54] Speaker A: Sorry. [00:47:54] Speaker B: No, no, totally. Okay, okay. A very reasonable question at that time. Just hold on to it for a second for me. There. There are sounds of. There are regular if far and dim sounds of just paper, of paper moving, paper being turned, paper being handled as well as you can hear like occasional like thuds and thumps and sounds of impact, even like kind of stifled like shouts that are very brief and controlled and clear. It sounds like something physical is going on somewhere around you. Ro, to come back to your question, you are. You are hearing a fair amount of common. Make a fairly high D.C. history check for me if you would. [00:48:45] Speaker A: Okay, that's gonna be a 21. [00:48:59] Speaker B: You're not sure. There is another tongue you're hearing that you could swear you've heard once or twice before, but can't quite place it. And the really weird thing is, is it pricks your ear. It has some amount like. It's like you can kind of almost understand it, but it feels a little wrong. Like everyone's. While you're like, I feel like I kind of got what they're saying, but I don't know what that was about. And you're hearing that around you from time to time. And actually that's being spoken fairly commonly. And then each of you has occasionally your ear pricked by a language. You know, there's like a smattering of gnomish over here. And the racial diversity is. The people's diversity is pretty. Is pretty high here. You know, there are plenty of different variants of humanoids. There's a dragon born over there. It's not Port responding, but there's some diversity here. And so language is endemic of their cultures. Dwarvish is heard at some point, but also regional dialects come up. There's a little bit of Insignian. So a really, really, really high lingual diversity, actually. Like people are just going around having conversations. In many languages, a strange affect even in Port is Buenissa. Unsenian and common are far and away the most common languages. And then you get splashes of things between individual conversations. But it seems like almost everyone here is speaking in something different with common and whatever that other one is, being the slight majority. When you all walk into the space, everyone in here looks at you and regards you, and you get some stares. But many of them are neutral. Not like a weird hive mind. No reaction, just, like, interest. But not the range of looks you all have grown accustomed to. Not gawking, disbelief, not judgmental, leering, not. Not fascinated, amazement. I mean, there's a little bit of emotion on some of the expressions, but mainly you're just getting a lot of. A lot of prolonged looks. People appear to be taking you in. In quite a bit of detail, but even if forcing themselves to do so a bit, they appear to be getting themselves to go back to whatever the task is they were doing. Amo el possit. Yeah, so you. That. That's the space all around you. [00:51:38] Speaker C: You said people look kind of neutral when they look at us. [00:51:42] Speaker B: Now, remember, Hoffa, you can be picked up on the mic a little bit. I mean, not perfectly so. Some look a little surprised, some look a little unnerved, some look almost everyone looks a little interested. But just not the range of emotion, expression you are very normally used to in public spaces. [00:52:01] Speaker C: Yeah. What. What are they. Are they just walking around and talking? [00:52:10] Speaker B: Plenty of people appear to be walking from one chamber to the next. Plenty appear to be stopping and speaking with each other. Some are carrying food and eating a little bit. People just appear to be going about their lives. [00:52:22] Speaker C: Okay. I didn't know. Okay. [00:52:25] Speaker B: Many have implements of reading or writing, which a notable fact at this point in the world in history, probably 40, 50% of y'all evident, depending on what you're thinking of when you're estimating, might not know how to read and write. You know, that's not a skill everyone possesses. This is. This is a. An ancient setting, right. Large cities. Most people probably know how to read and write. But there are probably thousands and thousands of people living in Portland who don't know. You know, there are. Especially if you get into somewhere like rural Zedge, probably half the town doesn't know how to read and write. So the degree of literacy that appears to be present. Present here looks high. [00:53:08] Speaker A: I have two questions. One, do anybody's writing, like, the books and scrolls they're carrying around, do any of them look like Greta's that she has? [00:53:23] Speaker B: And two, you're not seeing anything right off the bat that looks like a magical metal book. [00:53:29] Speaker A: And then two, could I do a religion check to see if, like, like, if I know. I mean, I know it's not the religion that Ro grew up in, but could I do a religion check to see if, like, the robes have, like, meaning to, like, the hierarchy or. [00:53:49] Speaker B: You may. I'm just gonna let you know, this is gonna be an incredibly high DC because you're not making a. A religion check for just some other religion. You're making a religion for that secretive, completely hidden. [00:53:59] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:54:01] Speaker B: That exists almost nowhere. [00:54:02] Speaker A: Makes sense. [00:54:02] Speaker B: Also, Abby, I thought you were spending this whole time taking very careful notes. And then I just realized maybe you're knitting, but maybe I was wrong. [00:54:11] Speaker C: I am noting. I'm taking. [00:54:13] Speaker B: Well, I just like. I was like, wow, she's taking a lot of notes. And then we weren't saying anything and I was like, oh, she's just doing something. [00:54:20] Speaker C: I am. I. [00:54:21] Speaker B: You have to apologize. It's just funny. So. [00:54:23] Speaker C: Dude, I'm doodling. [00:54:26] Speaker A: I got it. I got a 23. [00:54:28] Speaker B: 23. [00:54:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:54:32] Speaker B: They do certainly seem to note some amount of difference, but like, your mind is filled with plenty of guesses but no first hand knowledge. [00:54:44] Speaker A: Okay. [00:54:44] Speaker B: Or secondhand. Or third. [00:54:46] Speaker A: Cool. [00:54:47] Speaker B: What? What you. What you can Infer is logical and obvious. Some of these robes look much more functional than others. Some look much heavier and much more cumbersome. Some look much lighter, and there's literally less of fabric. So some of them look like things you can move quite a bit in. Some of them do not. [00:55:04] Speaker A: Sick. [00:55:05] Speaker B: You also notice that there is a correlation between the individuals who are wearing lighter, thinner robes and those same individuals often not wearing shoes, which is saying quite a bit. On these stone floors, they must have some very calloused feet, which is also not uncommon at this point in history, but nice. [00:55:30] Speaker C: So are the floors rough or it's just stone. [00:55:34] Speaker B: No, no, no. Very smooth. [00:55:35] Speaker C: Okay. [00:55:35] Speaker B: Very smooth. [00:55:36] Speaker C: But just, you know, it's just. [00:55:37] Speaker B: Yeah, a turtle walking on stone will smash them. Species turtle eternal. [00:55:46] Speaker C: But you know what? [00:55:47] Speaker B: Yes. No, no, I take it back. Yeah, turtle walking on stone will do that to your feet. [00:55:52] Speaker A: What? [00:55:53] Speaker D: How they get around. They just walk. They just step onto turtles and then they walk. It's the hover. It's the. Whatever it's called hoverboard for that time. [00:56:08] Speaker B: Have you a very slow hoverboard. [00:56:10] Speaker C: Does the woman seem to, like, make eye contact or, like, have any interaction with. I would like to make an insight check. Does this woman have any social. Like, does she make. Does anyone look at her and like, what's up? Or whatever? [00:56:27] Speaker B: Give me an insight check. That's a great check. [00:56:29] Speaker C: Did I get it right? I don't know, but I got it back. 18. [00:56:38] Speaker B: Well, that's not terrible. You stat monkeys. I can't wait for campaign two when you're just normal. [00:56:48] Speaker C: Level one. [00:56:50] Speaker B: As you look around, Greta. Well, first of all, you notice there does seem to be a form of greeting here, and it is very subtle. When each of these people sees each other and many see her, you realize they take prolonged blinks at each other. They just make eye contact and they have. Oh, Michael. You notice that when they seem to greet each other, they look at each other, make very, like, intentional, like, very paused eye contact, and then just take one big, like, blink and then look away and they all do it quite nice. Yeah, Very much like a cat blink. Yes, Micah. Also, it's 8:00. Why is my boss. Why call me at 5? Okay. Seems like it wasn't a big deal. Moving on. So I wasn't about to interrupt D and D for it, unless she was like, the school is on fire. In which case I'd be like, I think you should call the fire department. So what are you gonna do? That is one of the things you're noticing. Another thing you seem to be noticing is you. You notice when you walked in, when so many people paused, many of those eyes met her momentarily and then back. The exact meaning of that would be up to some interpretation, but with an insight of 18, you can put together that it seemed as though when five strangers entered this space, this massive temple structure, that many eyes questioningly looked to her for a moment, which must mean she has some amount of leadership, or perhaps they're just a highly communal organization. But if there is structure, if there is order, it does seem like a number of eyes look to her, like, is this okay? Or what are we doing? Or what's up with this? And it seems like her nod was enough of a response for quite a bit of it. [00:59:00] Speaker C: Okay, interesting. So they looked to her first after looking at us. [00:59:05] Speaker B: Not all, but quite a few. [00:59:06] Speaker C: Okay, okay, interesting. Hmm. [00:59:13] Speaker B: This all happens very quickly. I've been talking about it for 10 minutes, but you guys have been here for four seconds. She turns back to you and she. What did she say? She says, we, of course, have purpose in conversation with you, but we also understand if you have come here with service of your own. I'm a little uncertain of your position in our Order, but you must have some amount of authority to evoke. Is there any business to which you attend first? Oh, Jackie, that looks good. [01:00:09] Speaker C: Thanks. For a moment, I'm gonna change the. [01:00:13] Speaker B: Music a little bit. [01:00:14] Speaker C: And she says, oh, I am not entirely sure of my position either. I fairly recently joined the Order, and I am looking for more details and guidance on how I can best serve the Order. [01:00:52] Speaker B: She nods and she says, so be it. I am Ezra. I have been asked to guide you while you are here, to those whom you might find. May I see your medallion? [01:01:11] Speaker C: Yes. I pull out my thimble, and I pull it over my head and hold it out to her. [01:01:20] Speaker B: Okay. As you hold it out, she doesn't take it from you. She just looks at it. And as she stoops down, you notice that everyone in here looks like they've got something to do. But it looks like quite a few people are either pausing that task for a moment, if they can, or willing themselves back to what they're doing very obstinately. Still, other people seem to be finding a way to do what they need to do right here. And it's not like the room is suddenly filling, but there's now 35 people in here. Like, people are, like, calling people in to be like, hey, look, people in here. You get the feeling that Guests are not common here. And as you hold out the symbol, very interestingly, you watch all eyes go to it. Her symbol looks like yours. It's iron, not gold. And all of a sudden you realize that her symbol has three eyes, one eye, and then inside, making up the perpendicular iris of that one, another eye, and then making up the vertical and perpendicularity, and then the third eye being horizontal, making up the iris of that eye. When you look at your symbol, you realize there are four. You realize that it's like one eye, another one, another one, another one. [01:02:38] Speaker C: And mine is gold, right? [01:02:42] Speaker B: Yes. And yours is gold. You don't know what the meaning of that is. But can I. [01:02:48] Speaker C: Sorry. Do I know if it's like the metal gold or if it's just like iron painted gold? [01:02:56] Speaker B: Well, it's certainly not painted because that paint would have not survived even a short amount of time of your use. But let's do the most unimportant retroactive thing ever. And let's have Craig make a stone cutting check for you to have asked at some point and for his knowledge of stones and metals to be of use. [01:03:21] Speaker D: Sec. [01:03:24] Speaker B: That's the official crack. [01:03:29] Speaker D: That's so cute. [01:03:32] Speaker C: Can I have guided Craig? [01:03:35] Speaker B: Yes, you can. [01:03:36] Speaker D: You can guide me. [01:03:37] Speaker A: Like you have guidance. [01:03:40] Speaker D: That's a D4 for you, right? Yeah, it's a D4. Okay. That would be. That's all. That's 10 right now. And then it's 14. I really needed it because I got a 2. [01:04:02] Speaker C: Oh, no. [01:04:03] Speaker D: So we are very happy with guidance. [01:04:05] Speaker B: Wow. You got a two and you wound up with a 14 because it was. [01:04:09] Speaker D: Two times proficiency bonus. Just eight. [01:04:12] Speaker B: I mean. Yeah, that. [01:04:13] Speaker D: I got the highest. [01:04:14] Speaker B: That's a meaningful modifier, dude. [01:04:17] Speaker D: Pretty good thing. [01:04:21] Speaker B: Okay. At some point. Oh, at some point a week or two ago in travel, when asking Craig about this, this would have been a higher DC for someone else. It's lower for you, Craig. You know the very basics of determining something plated with something to something being of the full substance. This is good old 14 karat. That's nice. Just through and through. [01:04:51] Speaker C: Wow. [01:04:52] Speaker D: If you ever wanted to get married and didn't have metal and you could use that. [01:05:00] Speaker C: Awesome. [01:05:01] Speaker B: Greg said weeks ago and not now in this moment. But Greta, as you hold up your symbol, Ezra seems to scan it very quickly with her eyes. It's an instant evaluation. And Greta, you do notice that her brows raise a little bit, as do many others looking around. Now everyone here is wearing the symbols and the altar outside of their vestments. And you realize that there are plenty of people here who have a symbol which is one single hollow eye, and a few others who have one eye and a second eye. You can spot one other person with three. You're the only person you see around with four here. And Ezra just continues and she says well, it would appear that you outrank me, so at any point I am at your disposal. Within reason. Though I imagine the specifics of that might be a bit vague, as there's quite a bit about our order you do not know yet. Greta nods, not exactly certain the breadth or purpose whether you are to be fully added in, fully integrated, or you not knowing your business here does complicate things a bit. But I am certain that one of the High Curators would be able to say so for now, if you would not mind taking a moment. Your arrival was unexpected and we were expecting you to arrive. Just not now. If you would not mind giving me a moment, I need to go find one of the High Curators and I will return to you. [01:06:50] Speaker C: Absolutely. Thank you. [01:06:53] Speaker B: And she just says as a curator, you have access to most all facilities. I would imagine for now not to enter either of those too far hallways. And she points to the two at the very end of this massive central nexus chamber. Also, can you see my. What is she doing? Okay, look. Look at my cat. She's. [01:07:17] Speaker A: He wants to share the chair with you. [01:07:19] Speaker B: She's sitting in the space between my back and the chair. [01:07:25] Speaker A: She just wants to be close to you, Zach. [01:07:28] Speaker B: I know. I really love her. I want to be close to her, but. She points to those two halls at the end and she says it would likely be prudent to leave those for now, but any of the other spaces are freely available to you. I will find you easy enough. Do you need anything else in the meantime? [01:07:48] Speaker C: Anything urgent are my Is the rest of my traveling party. [01:07:55] Speaker B: As a cure permitted to lead them wherever you please? Please respect all who are here and most importantly, any of the artifacts or texts present. [01:08:10] Speaker C: Yes. Thank you. [01:08:13] Speaker A: Roan nods and like cheek. [01:08:16] Speaker C: Yeah, Greta looks, gives an eye to. [01:08:21] Speaker B: Her, looks you very intentionally in the eyes and takes a long blink and then turns around and just sets off. Okay, you all are. You all are very inexplicably just dumped here in the middle of this chamber. People are staring at you. No one's approaching you, but plenty are looking and moving on. You're just standing here waiting. [01:08:42] Speaker A: Someone can someone jog by memory? Who specifically gave you your symbol? I think it or when did you How I I remember it happening, but I don't remember getting in the temple. [01:08:58] Speaker B: Of saloon after your vision, so presumably I am. [01:09:02] Speaker A: Yeah. I couldn't remember exactly how it came into your possession. [01:09:07] Speaker B: You also noted when you were there, Greta, that no one else was wearing any gold symbols. The rest all seemed more common metals, very humble. [01:09:18] Speaker C: Okay. You said there was someone walking by with food. Can I smell food anywhere? [01:09:26] Speaker B: Yes, many different directions. It's not like everyone's walking around with food, but a couple of people are walking around with. You can smell some very dry breads. What smell like some things that are simply salted and seasoned. There is an individual walking by. She is young, tall, a little bit over six foot, lithe. She is a. She's a tabaxi. One she has. Excuse me, that's not what I meant to say. I meant to use the other t. She's a tiefling. She has very short horns that grow out at far angles and only to about 4 or 5 inches up. They look young and she looks young. She looks maybe like late teens, early 20s. She's not particularly stocky, but she's very lithe and lean. And she's wearing one of those lighter robes. She's barefoot. Her vestments become quite baggy and cuff at her ankles so as not to catch on things. And her robes are sleeveless. And she has some bruises on her arms and a pretty good cut on her lip that looks healed by some time. Now she has a very small booklet in her hand that she's reading from. Leather again. It's worth pointing out this time in history that you all have seen many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many books in your travels. And books aren't common. You've just been to many places with repositories. Books are valuable and they're very common in the world. They're not very common most places. And it's worth saying how many people have walked by already with books or scrolls or tomes in hand. She has this little booklet she's reading from. And on her other hand is a very fl. Flat, round piece of. It's kind of like a pita bread, but a bit thinner and lighter, almost kind of like naan and somewhere in between the two. And she's just chewing on it. And she walks and she steps in the chamber and makes eye contact of everyone who looks at you all. Everyone looks at Craig's armor. Everyone looks at Boz's fantastic appearance. They look at your weapons, but everybody looks at your symbol, the symbol on your chest, at least once. So she stops not too far away off. Dark, reddish skin. She's also bald. [01:11:57] Speaker C: Which archway did she come from? [01:12:02] Speaker B: She came from the right, from the third hallway out. And she was kind of walking in your direction, absentmindedly studying this text very carefully before she looked up and kind of looked at you all and paused. There is. There is a. Just a. Just a congestion of people who keep coming by, stopping, taking you all in, trying to move on, and having a hard time getting themselves to. It's just very awkward. You're all standing there. [01:12:29] Speaker A: Okay, I want to say I lean over to Greta and I'm like, greta, do you think. You know how they have. They had like, fencing at the Temple of Selune. Several people look like they've been like working out or something, or training. Do you think they have fencing here at your temple too? [01:12:53] Speaker C: They might. That would be really cool. We could learn to fence. [01:13:00] Speaker D: You need to fence when you can use your hands. Ben is going to be a man, throw punch. [01:13:12] Speaker B: Somebody write down, be a man, throw a punch, please. [01:13:16] Speaker C: Going to look for one of the. One of the archways besides the two hallways in the back that are like the least populated. [01:13:26] Speaker B: Would you like me to briefly describe them to you? [01:13:29] Speaker C: Oh, I would love that. [01:13:32] Speaker B: So this place is the length of a football field. And there are archways at the long point of which with the low ceiling that you can see a little bit into, but are hard to make out very deeply. To your immediate left is just kind of like a long constricted hall that just branches off with more torches. To your immediate right is a space that leads out into a hall that appears to branch into more halls. To its right, kind of. You're like. You're like. Right, right. And there appear to be a series of doorways and then leads into a stairwell that goes down, sort of like a. Like an entryway to a subterranean railway station would be a good comparison. And the stairway just leads down somewhere. Again, everything's unlisted. Untitled in front of that one, to the right is a hallway that leads into a space that is grand and open with a high ceiling that you can see from here. This place is big. This place looks like it's half a football field in size. A big round space, and it's just filled with. It's like a massive cafeteria. Just stone tables and wooden chairs all around them. And you can smell food from that direction, not strongly, but a number beyond that to the right, these archways are fairly well spaced from each other. And the next one over, you can kind of see into and there's some brighter light from somewhere beyond its distance, as if sunlight, which doesn't make a ton of sense. Off to the left. When you go beyond that constricted hall, the next one over appears to be. It's like a doorway that leads immediately into a very large open hall space, much larger than this one. You even stand in, like, an airplane hangar. And it, like, there's like a light brown beyond its perimeter. Like, the floor changes color. And you can see figures a bit distance away. Like, in a lot of movement, you'd have to get a little closer to tell more and that the most sound in the place is coming from there. And then past that, there's like a good distance before you reach another archway on that left side. And that one has a long hall that leads a direction that you can't quite make out from there. [01:15:57] Speaker C: Okay, Greta's going to whisper to the group and say, do you guys want to go look at that, the bright hallway or maybe sit in the. In some chairs? [01:16:17] Speaker B: This feels like your bag. [01:16:22] Speaker C: Craig. [01:16:25] Speaker D: I think. I think that we should, if we do go do a little explory things, we should probably stay maybe a little bit local so that she can find us. [01:16:38] Speaker C: Yeah, I think maybe just go sit in the. In the cafeteria. [01:16:43] Speaker D: I. I mean, we can look into the bright hallway to see if, like, they put the sun in there or something. But, like, I don't know. But then we can go sit down in the cafeteria. That's a sign. I don't know what that is. [01:16:56] Speaker C: Greta's gonna go start hesitantly, like, waiting, seeing if the group will follow. Walk towards the. The sunny room. [01:17:06] Speaker B: Okay. You move toward the right at some point, moving close to that very large fire pit in the middle. As you move further forward and you get past those first couple stone hallways that don't lead anywhere very clear. Again, the size of this place continues to expand. This is an underground town, Craig. In a less naturalistic way, it's feeling very dwarven, like a subterranean little city. The population here must be a couple thousand minimum. Like, this is when you thought of the Order of Ioun. I mean, whatever your mind might have conjured, you never thought of, like a. Like a. Like an entire people living underground. As you walk by on the left, you could start to see further away. It's a good distance. You can't make out a lot of detail, but it's very clearly a massive training ground on sand. It's an indoor, like, sand training and fighting pit. And it's huge. It's like the Size of football. There's like two or three hundred individuals in there training in different ways and groups. They appear to be being led in different exercise. You can see exercise apparatus beyond there. So, Craig, that pricks your attention as you go by. As you move past the cafeteria, you can see many individuals eating. Again, you get looks from everybody, and once more, the sound of many things among you, but especially the bells on Boss's feet and the armor Craig is wearing really reconnects again, because to be around this many people going about their lives this quietly really juxtaposes how difficult it is for you all to go anywhere quietly. And again, people just keep looking at the symbol. Greta, as you walk by, you start to notice that some of the more experienced members, though they look confused, are like you're getting a lot of those, like, sustained looks and blinks in people. [01:19:09] Speaker C: I do my best to try and return them. [01:19:12] Speaker B: Okay. People look stunned, People look confused. There's a lot of whispering going on, a lot of it. You even notice quite a few people, like, pointing at each other and whispering some distance away. You start to realize that people are messaging each other back and forth with the cantrip. It's not everywhere from time to time. And finally, as you get past the cafeteria, you work your way to that space on the right, which winds up being. It's like a. Like a. A domed space, and it's probably like 50ft across. And in its center is soil, just open soil, and there are rows of plants growing up from it. It's like a garden in the middle of the chamber and pouring down over it is sunlight. There's just like a hole in the center of the ceiling with clear noonday sunlight pouring through, which didn't make a whole lot of sense because you're at least a couple hundred feet under the ground at the bottom of a lake. But there's clear sunlight pouring through the. The top of this space. And this space connects out a hallway from it and another domed room and more plants. And there appears to be a hallway beyond that and then another domed room and more plants. This first one looked like this very naturalistic garden. There are flower beds all around, large trees. Individuals are walking around in the dirt. Some are sitting on wooden benches in the middle of it. It's just like a public garden. But at some point, you watch someone walk around on the side of the stone, circular path at its edges with, like, a basket full of vegetables. And there must be, like, garden gardens further on. [01:20:52] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:20:53] Speaker B: If you look around at the food of the space, unless they're importing food from somewhere. There must be massive crop efforts here. This place is like an underground city that just branches and spiders outward. [01:21:06] Speaker C: Who can I. Is there anyone nearby? [01:21:10] Speaker B: People are here all over. [01:21:14] Speaker C: Okay. [01:21:16] Speaker B: Do you just stop the first passerby? Do you look for someone specific? [01:21:19] Speaker C: No, I should. I was just wondering. And who's. Who's around? [01:21:23] Speaker B: I think this place isn't packed. Every space is sparse, but plenty of them have, like, no space, doesn't have people. There's some chambers that only have two or three people in them. There's some that have that. I mean, that. That mess hall looked like it had, like, more than 100 people. That training ground had the most, but nowhere here is empty. [01:21:52] Speaker C: Okay. I think Greta's gonna, like, still checking in with the party visually every once in a while. She's gonna look for a little bench to sit down on for a little bit. [01:22:07] Speaker B: Okay. The nearest one is in that garden space in the center of the soil. [01:22:10] Speaker C: Yeah, she's gonna look for a bench in the garden space. Face. [01:22:14] Speaker B: Okay. You step forward, and the warm soil greets your shoes. And as you walk over it and walk toward the plants, they're beautiful and green, verdant. You realize they match some of the landscape of the island above. As you take a seat in one of the benches. Some birds flutter out of a bush nearby. And in between, there are animals down here in this space. And you realize that they are flying back and forth in between. And there are some insects among some of the plants and squatted nearby. There are three individuals, slightly different ages, but all younger. And one of them. So one of them looks like, again, early 20s ish. They're all different race, makeup. One's a dwarf, one's. So it's hard to tell exactly who's how old for what. But one of them looks 20sish. Another one looks teenage, and another one looks like tweenish, like. Like a child, like at the end of childhood. And the two younger have notes that they're writing in little, very simple parchment sheets, a board. And each of them are sketching some of the plants around and making notes about them. And the very slightly older is overseeing them and speaking to them. And you notice that the two youngest have. The symbols on their chest are one eye, and so is the older. But they seem to be listening to the older, and they appear to just be having a lesson about the things growing there until you sit down, and each of them looks up, and the older one looks a little startled looking at you. The teenage ish One looks to you. Each. Each again immediately look at you and first look at the symbol, your neck. And again, that slightly older individual, the dwarven one, looks just very startled and confused for a second. The slightly younger one looks a little confused and then looks to the older individual. And then the youngest just looks at you and smiles and then looks very surprised looking at your. At the symbol on your neck and doesn't look away for a while. Just looks stunned by it for a bit. And the teenager speaks to the oldest of the young individuals in that tongue you don't quite recognize. Greta, you may also give me a history check. [01:24:30] Speaker C: History or rumors? [01:24:34] Speaker B: For you, this is gonna be history. Because this isn't about hag time. This is about your own experiences. This is about recalling something very detailed from your time with the party in your travels, placing something, making some inferences. [01:24:47] Speaker A: This isn't about hag time. [01:24:52] Speaker C: My rumors aren't about hag time, are they? [01:24:56] Speaker B: No, no. But they often are. And even if they weren't, in this case, no. Actually, a lot of your history is about hags. Point being, your rumors have nothing to do with the scenario. You could not have heard this about in the world somewhere. [01:25:08] Speaker C: Got it. Got it. That's a 25. [01:25:15] Speaker B: I had to remember which one you were. You're not ro. [01:25:19] Speaker A: You can give me the 25. To my. [01:25:22] Speaker B: This is. [01:25:23] Speaker A: I'm just kidding. [01:25:24] Speaker B: Okay. You heard this very briefly discussed when learning history from some of the manabus. And you realize now why it sounds at times like something you can understand, but, like, only very slightly. And then it doesn't make sense. It's because it's. It's like walking around and hearing someone speaking Latin. This is old. [01:25:46] Speaker C: Wow. [01:25:47] Speaker B: Old common, which you've heard very briefly once before in your travels. And then read a little bit of being unable to read it. And. And it, like, it has all the same sounds as the language, you know, well, as common. It has all the same structure, but it's all just wrong. And you realize that they're speaking old common common to each other. It's like you've walked into a giant commune of nerds who all talk Latin to each other. And. And after this very brief and instant interaction, the dwarven individual, the oldest of them, like, bids them to kind of put their notes away for just a moment. They like, they don't close them. They just put them down lower the. Lower the planks. And he looks at you and he simply says. [01:26:47] Speaker C: Ah, okay. [01:26:50] Speaker B: It's very clearly old common. And you don't Speak it. [01:26:53] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:26:55] Speaker A: I don't know what five of us are like. [01:26:57] Speaker C: Greta's gonna very quick, she's gonna turn her head so that the. Her tattoo shows and she's gonna very quickly cast tongues on herself. [01:27:10] Speaker B: Okay. Sick. If she flashes with light, the two individuals look a little startled. The younger one smiles bravely. You're not the only person you've seen here with tattoos, though. Not a lot. And a lot of the tattoos here look kinda. You've seen a lot of tattoos of text. So yours involves text, but in a very different way. And they look at you surprised and like, you know, everyone looks amazed by the bit of magic for a moment and then they stare at you in silence because no one said anything, you know, that you can now understand them. But no one said anything new. So they just look confused at you. [01:27:46] Speaker C: I. So I, I can speak in any. Right? [01:27:49] Speaker B: Mm, yeah. [01:27:51] Speaker C: Okay. I. I reply an old comment. [01:27:53] Speaker B: I say, man, this is satisfying for Greta. [01:27:56] Speaker C: I'm sorry, can you repeat what you said? Can you repeat yourself? [01:28:03] Speaker B: There's a. A very, A confused and very slightly kind of like nervous, discombobulated, disconcerted nod from the older dwarven individual. And what that came out of your mouth in clear old common. You even understood what you said as you said it. And you hear an old common come back from his mouth. Of course. Curator, may we be of any assistance? Do you need anything? Do you have something to teach us? [01:28:36] Speaker C: Greta says. She smiles to the younger one. [01:28:43] Speaker B: He smiles back and. [01:28:50] Speaker C: She does the slow blink to the older one. [01:28:54] Speaker B: Okay. He blinks back and she. Like you're not even looking at him. And he blinks too. [01:28:59] Speaker C: Oh, I. Then I turn and I say, no, I don't. We don't need any assistance right now. We just wanted to enjoy the gardens. [01:29:11] Speaker B: The fungi's are just very slowly like appearing from your periphery, walking up behind you. And each of them looks to them very surprised. The child smiles and it's a big look on his face. Looks astonished. [01:29:26] Speaker C: I gesture to them, I say, these are my. These are my traveling companions. [01:29:34] Speaker A: And Greta's speaking a weird language. [01:29:37] Speaker D: A wave. [01:29:37] Speaker B: Yeah, you guys are just. Greta's just speaking. She just. [01:29:42] Speaker A: So I just wave and wave at the kids and I'm like. [01:29:46] Speaker B: Tello nods and waves Boz. For no reason, just kind of flinches the child a little bit and dingles. [01:29:53] Speaker D: Wait, I have a question. [01:29:55] Speaker A: That's awful. [01:29:56] Speaker D: Wait, so we're speaking to someone who's dwarven? [01:30:00] Speaker B: There is a dwarf ahead of them. Yes. [01:30:04] Speaker A: Like not speaking dwarf. [01:30:08] Speaker B: There is a dwarf there. He is speaking to Greta. [01:30:11] Speaker C: The oldest teenager is a dwarf. [01:30:14] Speaker D: Can I ry speaking to that individual in dwarven? Just go, you speak dwarven? [01:30:28] Speaker B: He gets a kind of funny look on his face. And indwarven responds with that sort of more heavy, linear, consonant prone, direct language. Yes, yes, hello. [01:30:44] Speaker D: Okay, good. [01:30:46] Speaker B: And everyone else in the real confused, looking back and forth. [01:30:50] Speaker C: I understood this because I have tongues. So I, I. [01:30:53] Speaker B: You understand everything. Yeah. [01:30:55] Speaker C: I look to the children and I say, my companions don't speak old common. I, I don't normally. But they all, they know common. [01:31:07] Speaker B: Even more confused when you say you don't normally. And they look confused back and forth to each other. And then the elder says, again, we apologize, cure reader. Is this, is this a riddle? [01:31:21] Speaker A: This is so cool. [01:31:23] Speaker C: No, no. [01:31:25] Speaker B: Also, you guys can notice out of your periphery that, like, that crowd that is having a lot of trouble not following you. It's not the same crowd. It's not the same crowd. People keep being like, oh, I have to go back to what I'm supposed to be doing. But, like, everywhere you're going now around the garden, more people have gathered around this section of the garden than have in years. And people are just like stopping by and like lingering for a while and watching and muttering. And the eldest says, oh, sorry, go ahead. No, no, do something, do something. [01:31:53] Speaker C: Greta notices this crowd, and so she gets on to. She gets off of the bench and takes out her notebook and approaches the child, kind of the children kind of gauging their reaction. She doesn't want to scare them. [01:32:07] Speaker B: As you walk up, all three lift the writing implements they have and like, pull up quills and like, lean in and like the teenager, who's much taller than you, like, kneels down and they're all just listening with rapt attention. Okay, you're putting together. These curators, whoever they are, clearly have a high social role here and also appear to be educators of some sort. [01:32:30] Speaker C: Okay, give me just a second, Greta. She like, I'm so excited. Greta opens up her book and starts like flipping through it before kneeling down. [01:32:45] Speaker B: The moment your book opens and you start passing notes, you watch each of them, like, their eyes fly to the pages and they just start ingesting what's passing quickly before them. And I mean, they're excited. And the young one doesn't look surprised, he just looks excited. The teenager, well, the older one starts looking a little confused, looking at your notes even as you flip through them quicker. They're just ready and listening. [01:33:11] Speaker C: Okay. [01:33:13] Speaker B: And as long as you take looking, they wait in silence. Also, very interestingly so, you guys, just to set the scene a little bit, this garden area, like, big domestone area. Sunlight coming out of the room, stone walkway around the edges, soil. Then plants start growing. There are forbs and grasses growing all the way up to the edge of the walkway, but all the big shrubs and trees and larger flowering plants only grow in the middle. There's also some stones scattered, some naturalism to the landscape. And so, like, Greta is standing with these three inside the tree line, which is not impenetrable, but a little bit blocked. All the fungi are gathered awkwardly at the edge of that. And then, like, 10ft out at the edge of that, there's, like, a semicircle of people gathered at the edge, just being like, what's she gonna say? And when Greta kneels down and sees the book, like, a couple people at the edge can see her do that, and they take out. Not everyone has one. Not everyone has one. Plenty of people don't. But four or five individuals take out things to write with, and two others see them and pull out things to write with. So now people at the edge of the crowd are, like, leaning in. A couple people step on a couple steps onto the grass, like, kneel down. Everything gets. Gets very quiet around you all as Greta just even opens up her book and starts to say something. [01:34:22] Speaker C: Okay. She looks to the children and she says, are you interested in ecology? Or whatever the equivalent word for ecology is. [01:34:37] Speaker B: Greta, you would probably call it. You would probably call it naturalism. [01:34:42] Speaker C: Are you interested in naturalism? [01:34:45] Speaker B: They all nod, and you realize that what they've been doing here, taking notes on the plants is. The older one says, curator, this is. This is exactly what we've been studying. And there's a big smile on his face. And again, to be so clear, Roe and Craig, all of this is happening in the gibberish. And so everyone's just standing here like, good, cool, good. Unless Greta switches the language, and you get the feeling they'd follow. But right now, it's all in the gibberish. And you guys are just like, okay, well, I'd say. [01:35:16] Speaker A: Because people are starting to, like, kind of, like, crowd. I would say Roe would go, like, wherever Greta is, she would go, like, sit down on the ground, like, by Greta to, like. I don't know, just to be, like. Because she feels, like, out of place. So she's like, okay, I'm just gonna go here, and I'm gonna. I'm, gonna, like, get down so that people can like, see? But I want to stay close to Greta because she's the person here. Like, okay, so since hello Just looks. [01:35:47] Speaker B: Slightly uneasy, and boss is picking as many people in the crowd as he can, making eye contact and giving the slow blinking back. [01:35:56] Speaker A: So what Landon would do. [01:35:59] Speaker B: I'm trying to represent him. Trying. Oh, guys, I missed dnd. [01:36:04] Speaker C: Greta switches to common when Craig and Ro comes over. [01:36:08] Speaker B: Awesome. You guys can finally understand what's being said. And they just. They just immediately. Nobody questions. Everybody just switches to common. [01:36:16] Speaker C: And so she. She asks. She says, do you want to hear about the Gascon waste or the halal? [01:36:29] Speaker B: Just shocked and excited faces at. When Greta says those words, all the people at the edges can't contain themselves. And you guys aren't, like, rushed. Everyone here does things fairly calmly, but everyone just walks in from the edges. And Greta, this crowd just forms up around you. Not a crowd of a hundred crushing people, but, like 20 or 30 people, all, like, kneeling people kneel and sit. And there's some mutters from around you. You guys are able to pick up a little bit that, like, some of the people around you are muttering about, like. Like, some of these people, you get the feeling have followed your visually since you came in. You hear one person refer to you as the far curator, just dubs you something on the spot and calls you. Another person calls you the new curator. Right? But each of them starts, like, you hear people, like, getting excited, like the Goskin wastes. And another, like, there's a bunch of muttering about, like, what are those? Someone points at Greta's shoes and goes, what are those? But I know that was a bad old joke. Forgive me. That was really bad. That one ends well. And. But very interestingly, a couple people seem to be whispering something that denotes that they know, in theory, what those are. And the three students in front of you look enraptured. And. And the. The child starts to say something, and the eldest, like. Like he said, he goes. And the eldest just puts a hand on his shoulder and goes. I think the curator will tell us ab. Whatever. Whatever. Your choice, Curator. [01:38:12] Speaker C: Okay. Greta opens to, like, her old notes from when she was traveling to Hillel with Walter. And she just. [01:38:24] Speaker B: You go so far back, the handwriting's different. [01:38:30] Speaker C: She's probably. I don't think she's used to teaching so much. And she's aware that there's, like, a crowd building, but. So she tries to, like, raise her voice a little bit. And she tries to hold the book not in, like, a way that she's, like, showing it to people, but in a way that's like a fixer book. [01:38:51] Speaker B: Sorry, I didn't. When you did that motion, that hadn't even occurred to me. [01:38:55] Speaker C: Yeah, in a way that the kids can see, but also like, onlookers can see. And she just starts, like, pointing to things in her notes and just like, explaining them. And like, she's like. It's less of like a. Like teaching or like a lecture and more. Much more of like a. Like, like an old grandma, like, showing, like, pictures of, you know, just like, trying to explain something, you know. [01:39:28] Speaker B: Silence fills this space. There's a couple bird songs, and very interestingly, a breeze comes by. There should be no airflow down here. For those of you who are proficient in arcana, which are all three here, it occurs to you that the sunlight coming from above you is probably not being produced. It's probably being conjured from somewhere. There's enough of an open portal that breeze is coming through wherever that is in. In the world, probably nice of which for gas exchange down here. So there's fresh air and things smell good. But as it comes by and like, rustles the leaves slightly, some birds twitter. Otherwise it's complete silence, save for the furious scuffing of. Of writing implements on paper. People are just digesting what you're saying. You have the wrapped attention of all around you. You see a couple, like, nod listening to what you're saying, as if some of what you're saying are things they know, but that's very rare. The vast majority is people having no idea what you're saying, and people look interested. There's. There's very occasional whispers back and forth just of, like, interest or amazement between friends and you speak and people listen. You teach. You teach about the Gospin Wastes and you teach about the Hilal from which you're from. You show excellent diagrams and some of the notes you display. Not all are written in common. Some of them are gnomish, some of them are in whatever language is going through your head at the time. And you watch as some individuals start translating to each other, because some of these people seem to speak these languages and some don't. You get the feeling that here in this communal temple city, multilingualism is like a. A. Oh, my goodness, what do they call aspects that are good? Like. Like a virtue to. To attain and to strive and to study the thing that individuals focus in different things, but the people are constantly educating each other and you start to see how there is an. And interestingly, you as. As you start to have more passive interactions with the people around you, just them being present. You notice that the vast majority of people here are wearing symbols that are one hollow eye, and a fair number have the two. You've seen one other person with the three thus far and no one with the four. And the majority. Majority of people with the one eye are listening quietly. And sometimes the individuals with the two eyes will. Are. Will like, speak and say things and translate, but very occasionally someone with one eye will be translating for someone with two. And you get the feeling there is. There is a general. That there is surprise, surprise, surprise, a very deep reverence for knowledge, for information, and that there is a culture of education here. Whatever, whatever. And I mean truly a culture of education that individuals here seem to feel responsible for educating each other and engaging in each other's education. You get the feeling that written and oral education are very alive here. And the. Whatever different qualities might be lending themselves to the weight and unanimity of this response, the ubiquity of it. Everyone seems fascinated by what you have to say. This goes on for quite some time unless you alter your action or path in any way. [01:43:07] Speaker C: I probably just. It's. I think she's probably like a little nervous at first, but after a while she just like, like, she just focuses on the kids and like teaching them and she gets excited about it and she starts. Just gets into it and kind of forgets about the crowd a little bit or tries to. [01:43:30] Speaker B: I'm gonna give one quick descriptive note and then we're come back to that. Greta. And I promise I want you guys to be able to roleplay things. But there's a lot to say here. The first is that for those of you with fairly high passive perceptions, you start to notice that notes are being. Being taken on what Greta is saying. Notes are also being taken on all of you. Some individuals here seem to be somewhat skilled at sketching and are sketching you. All others appear to be taking notes on your appearances. You notice that quite a few are. Are writing out whatever symbologies are present on you. The maker symbol gets recorded four or five times. Oh, people are recording. One of you has somewhere on your person a little bit of the brass company brand exposed. And people are recording that symbol and people are making notes on, like, what you're doing, what you're wearing. Like, people around here are trained, for better or for worse, to notate to study. I have, like, being studied. [01:44:26] Speaker A: I have like, my six necklaces of, like, the weed necklace, the symbol of saloon the proof of amulet and the texture. [01:44:35] Speaker B: You get the feeling row, that some of them that like you watch the wheat symbol get. Get sketched out with the exact same importance as the maker symbol. Just absolutely no idea. That one is pretty trivial and. But Greta, as you. Oh, and. And Craig, of all the individuals present, you seem to be getting the most visual attention. Everyone is fascinated by. By. I mean, a number of you all have armament and. And weapons. But you notice that many people have trouble taking their eyes off of your armor and off of your weapons. Their eyes stay trained on it, and all around you, you see nothing but robed individuals. And you get the feeling that armor may or may not be something anyone here has ever seen. Depending on. [01:45:26] Speaker C: Wow. [01:45:26] Speaker B: You also realize that since you've walked in, you've yet to see a weapon. [01:45:31] Speaker A: Oh, except the 10 million on us. [01:45:36] Speaker B: And you all came armed to the teeth. [01:45:39] Speaker D: They're like. You mean metal can be used for things other than symbols. [01:45:46] Speaker B: So eyes are very trained on you. But Greta, as you. As you preach an ethic of experience and you speak of a gospel of lived life and realization and knowledge, you have an experience you've never had. You came from a dense, tightly knit culture in which you did not fit. [01:46:14] Speaker C: Aww. Oh, I'm gonna cry. [01:46:17] Speaker B: And that experience had so much value to you, but you were also an outsider within it. And you left that culture to pursue a passion and a perspective and an identity not rejected but also not shared or understood by those around you. And you see in their faces the face that must have been yours when your aunt, decades ago, honestly a century and a half ago, would speak to you about the little wonders in your home, about the things that you could possibly see. And you touch. You touch something you left behind so long ago, something you shared for a great amount of time with one person for whom you cared deeply before you lost that person, before you lost that part of yourself. You touched something that you turned to when you'd run out of all else, something that got perverted and twisted and poisoned and a darkened community who cared for you and poisoned you at the same time. And what was slowly, traumatically twisted against you with the hags for the first time gets breathed this new breath in it, you've had truth and meaning and life and experience redeemed for you quite a bit in the last two or three months, but not like this, not in a community. And you stand there for a moment. I wouldn't tell you what you. Because of course, those of yours. But you have an experience for the first time you maybe feel a bit like who you are, a you you had never considered. Are you filled with all of your experiences and all of your. All of you that instead of being a survivor and a sojourner, which you are, you're instead, all of a sudden in a place that looks like you. You're in a place you are saying things you've said to plenty of people, and suddenly it seems like people can understand you. It feels like without any magic at all, you are speaking a language other people are finally understanding. And you are there not as some relapsing ancient proto child wandering a relived life. You are suddenly a seasoned, respected member of a community that you just instantly stepped into, that even as it doesn't understand or know you, accepts you just by function of fit, just by how well you step directly into it. And for a moment, as the sunlight passes down through the leaves, one of the leaves falls off one of the trees and catches a little bit of it. And as you speak to all these individuals, you feel just a little breeze on your neck and just a little voice in your ear with whisper, your story will continue to be written. And all of a sudden, for a moment, you very unreligious cleric, you start to understand how. How the liturgies of life and the catechisms of curiosity could coalesce into a lived community that existed as you do, and how this strange separation of Ayoun to Yahla to Selune could all be part of one thing, and how they exist in parts that are complicated, but you have some place in it. As you stand there, you feel one more chain you didn't know was on. You just loosen and slip off a little, and everyone just sits there smiling at you and listening and watching. And you've talked about nothing but grasses for the last eight minutes. Tello honestly looks pretty confused what everybody's so interested in. [01:51:01] Speaker C: Greta doesn't cry, but Abby cried. Yeah, it. I think it feels really good to, like, Greta's been, like, since she was a kid, like, soaking things up and learning things and, like, for most of, like, what would be her 20, 20s and 30s and maybe 40s, I don't know, she spent, like, getting information, like, collecting information about the Hillel and, like, turning that into people. And then she. She's just been, like, collecting and sketching and in different capacities. But it's like she, like, going over that with people who are interested in teaching it to someone that has the same, like, light in her eyes that she had. It's it's like. It is, like. I think she kind of feels like, as she's doing it, it's like, the surreal feeling, like, oh, I'm, like. I'm, like, turning the page of, like, a new chapter, you know? It's like the. Like, she can, like, see outside of her. She's, like, looking at these old sketches and, like, remembering when she took those and when she was the one, like, soaking everything up and so curious. And now she's, like, sharing that with people who are younger and older, and it's like. Like she can see herself and, like, see the roles being reversed, and it's probably, like, a really surreal and rewarding feeling. [01:52:56] Speaker B: Anyone else doing anything? [01:53:01] Speaker A: I think Ro is looking on to Greta and all these people watching her, and I think she kind of. I think for, like, the first time, she sees, like, Ro likes to soak up information, too, but she's never really understood, like, Greta's way of, like, note taking and everything and her doing. I think Ro understands it just a little bit because she sees, like, the sparkle in Greta's eye that she feels when she's, like, on stage performing. And, like, it's that. It's that thing of, like, sharing something, you know, with people that are actually interested. And I think Ro just feels, like, a sense of, like. Like, sisterly pride almost, like, just is so. Just, like, happy for Greta to see her get to experience that. And she just kind of sits there and just watches on. Just, like, very. Just happy. Just very content for. [01:54:28] Speaker B: For. [01:54:28] Speaker A: For Greta. [01:54:32] Speaker B: Micah. I'm sorry. I said Micah. I meant to say Maya. Maya sits down right on my notes. My dice tray and my dice. [01:54:40] Speaker A: I can stop stepping on Zach's stuff. [01:54:42] Speaker B: I'm sorry. [01:54:43] Speaker D: I can't help it. [01:54:44] Speaker B: Sitting in my dice tray. Maya, come lay down on the blanket over there. Okay. Soon after. Oh, go ahead. No, get him. Nickel. [01:55:01] Speaker D: Okay. [01:55:01] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:55:01] Speaker B: Do a thing. [01:55:03] Speaker D: This is a very interesting setting because Craig's, like, looking around, and I don't think he's as emotionally developed as Ro is to recognize the, like, power and, like, beauty of this moment between Greta and these people. I think something he does notice is that while this is so familiar to him of, like, the setting of, like, being underground, and there's a lot of aspects that are, like, familiar. This is one place where, like, it may be like that, but they value intelligence and knowledge above strength. And I think actually a very interesting thing for him to, like, observe from afar where people are respecting Greta because she's knowledgeable and they're respecting her. [01:55:58] Speaker B: Not. [01:55:58] Speaker D: Because of how strong or tough or, like, how much she can fight, but just because she has these experience and, like, they share something in commonality and respect that is just. He's like, oh. Like, that's different. And he's just kind of observing and absorbing that. [01:56:19] Speaker B: Absolutely. There's nothing wrong with it. Is there any chance that in the middle of that, you all heard, can I make popcorn now? Really loudly. [01:56:27] Speaker C: No. [01:56:27] Speaker B: No. Okay, that's kind of a bumpy. Can I make popcorn? And it was really cute. Oh, okay. Craig, I love it. And. Oh, not to. Not to do it to you, but of all the things that stand out, it is hard to look at the young dwarven man and not see. Oh, the way Aaron used to look at you and to not see both positive and negative. The identities you have not and could yet still live into. Is even your. Your past and your future are scattered here in this moment. Some popcorn is going to get made, which it should get made, but for the sake of background noise. Ro, do you have any particularly powerful thoughts in this moment or anything like that? Just for maybe, like, the next two minutes? [01:57:31] Speaker A: Roughly two minutes. I already did my spiel of how. [01:57:36] Speaker B: Or anyone else for anything. [01:57:38] Speaker A: The. The. You know, the performing and the. She's just happy for Greta. And if Greta goes into anything, Ro can accompany her with a little grass noise. I don't know. I don't know. I'm trying to fill time. [01:58:05] Speaker B: Not music. Grass noise. That's important. [01:58:08] Speaker C: Well, no, maybe while. While Greta's like, that's when you take the grass. Oh, you do the. You do the. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [01:58:17] Speaker A: You have a little spot where it shows that that's what you can do with grass. And so Ro plays it on Soul Mender because she can mimic it perfectly. [01:58:25] Speaker C: Or maybe, like, they're just talking about, like, birds and zedge and she's like, oh, do you remember that one bird that we saw the night that we had fish. Fish. Dandelion sandwiches. She's like, make the noise because you're. [01:58:40] Speaker A: Yeah. And bro can whistle really well. So she. [01:58:43] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [01:58:44] Speaker A: She can, like, do some of the bird calls. I'm canonizing that. And Zach can't say anything because he's mute. [01:58:49] Speaker B: I love that. I love that Omni. Musical ability of Soul Mender has just turned row into the VFX apartment. That. That's. That. That's now what she's in charge of. [01:58:58] Speaker C: Very funny. [01:59:02] Speaker A: Noises. [01:59:04] Speaker C: Like, you know what? [01:59:05] Speaker B: This is an informal podcast. I'm just going to let the popcorn noises happen. So this goes on for quite some time. It's okay. And that's great. This just goes on for a time. This, this passes for about a half hour, maybe 45 minutes. And finally it's again, you get the feeling crowds aren't supposed to gather unless called in this place. And yet there be one. You. You've worked your way all the way up to like 40 people because they're just really having a hard time not gathering. And everyone's demeanor relaxes a little bit. You almost get the feeling that like a public teaching, like this is thing for which people can do this. And at some point the crowd begins to split and approaching you is, you all have met one or two of these people so far, and you've met one of these people so far, and you've seen probably four or five in your travels. No, I take that back. You've seen maybe two or three. They're very rare people in all about him. An. An ASMR fellow. Do you guys remember what ASMR are? [02:00:16] Speaker C: I'll Google. [02:00:17] Speaker B: They are the. They're like the angel people. A a I m a r. Yes. Sorry, one second. Hoffus. Gotta kiss my wife as a priority. I like her. I love her. So asmrs, you can google if you need them. Micah. And the individual who walks forward, he's entirely bald. He has very, very, very dark skin. What was that, Abby? [02:00:50] Speaker C: I just went, ooh, bald man. [02:00:55] Speaker A: Ooh, bald man. [02:01:00] Speaker B: He's entirely bald. He has very, very, very, very dark skin. He. He looks old in the way that, you know, you know, people who like very clearly are older, but. And things about their face communicates it. But so much of their face has also not picked up the aging that like it should. Like, his features are sagging slightly and he has the visual appearance of aging. But there are so few lines on his face except kind of around his eyes and some in his mouth. And he has, he has wings growing out of his back. And he's quite tall and thin. He's like six and a half feet tall. I mean, like as dark of a skin as a person can have. Massive, like, sort of like pigeon like wings growing out of his back, like the color of a pigeon's wings, but that like model, like the gray with the streaks of black and the white. And he's wearing those same robes, but they're cut sections for his wings to protrude through. And he carries from his neck a symbol with four. Excuse me, five eyes, like Greta's. One more, one more. [02:02:16] Speaker C: No, I have. [02:02:18] Speaker B: Yeah. I messed it up every time I spoke. So he has five. And his symbol is. Is a silver craig, from seeing it very clearly plated, but it is a silver. And there is. There is like a. Like a. An amber gemstone set in the very center eye, some sort of an adornment. And he carries on his fingers. He has like a ring on his pinky finger and a ring on his index finger on his left hand, and then one on his middle finger on his right. But even from a distance, you can see that instead of being studded with jewels or anything like that as an adornment, there's just text written around the bands, and the bands are just a very simple silver. There's no other real pattern designed to them. They just have text written on them. And going up and down his arms in like, kind of like showing white, almost very slightly bright ink, are tattoos banding up around his arms of text on both arms. He is sleeveless. He's again, fairly lean, not particularly muscular, but fairly lean. And he's wearing those same brown and green robes. There's a slightly more artistic variation of those greens and browns, but still nothing over the top. And he walks forward. And as he enters, no one seems shocked, but everyone listens and turns attentively. A couple of the younger folks, especially seem excited. There's some worried looks, some smiles, just a general, like a very, very, very slight change in energy at his presence. And everyone in the space turns in him and in almost unison. I mean, there's some distance between timing, but almost everyone turns, looks him in the eyes, even he's not looking at them, and just does the long blink at him. Like everyone almost kind of all at once, especially any individuals with latency as they notice him. And when he looks at you, he has no pupils, just irises that are like, kind of silvery, and they just grow slightly brighter toward them middle. So, like, whoa. If you look right at the middle, it looks like there are pupils of, like, kind of white light, but out toward the center, all the way out, they just slowly gradient outward to silver. And he looks at you all, and he just says, it is good to meet you, curator. [02:04:52] Speaker C: I. I do the blink and I. [02:04:56] Speaker B: He smiles and he does the long blink at you, and he turns to Craig before even continuing the sentence. And he says, you as well. Paladin does the blink at you. [02:05:10] Speaker D: Craig, Craig likes, but it's like slightly too long and drawn out because he's like, truly trying to do it right. [02:05:19] Speaker B: Too long of a blink just keeps his eyes. [02:05:23] Speaker A: He fell Asleep. [02:05:24] Speaker D: And he like opens it really quick and he's like, okay, I did that. Right. Thank you. I'm happy to be here. This is a wonderful place. [02:05:38] Speaker B: I'm glad to hear it, Curator. We look forward to speaking with you on a number of subjects. We ask also if you have brought any interest of your own, any areas of study, any contributions of work, or any matters of affair for the students of Ioun. And in this moment, Greta, you learned that the order of Ioun refer to themselves as the students. [02:06:11] Speaker A: Cool. [02:06:11] Speaker B: This is what your order is called from within itself. [02:06:22] Speaker C: I stand up and I pick up my sketchbook and I kind of like hold it up. And she says, I've spent many years studying naturalism. And in recent years I've begun. I've observed goings ons in various cities. [02:07:06] Speaker B: Sorry, I was taking a note real quickly. He nods. He says, an area of study, Naturalism and socio cultural studies are valued. Of course, here. We look forward to all your contributions. But given that is. And I'm so sorry, Abby, what did I call your magical book? What was its title? [02:07:28] Speaker C: Oh, no, let me. [02:07:31] Speaker B: You know what? [02:07:32] Speaker C: Magical value. [02:07:35] Speaker B: The. The resource. Oh, that's what it was. We didn't necessarily record the. [02:07:42] Speaker C: Yeah, I just have magical ice. [02:07:47] Speaker B: Okay, well, then we're going to give it a new official name. All of the sudden. Also, he told you his name, right? No, he didn't. Okay, well, I'm gonna keep moving, so. I mean, you can bring it up if you want, but I was just trying to refer to it correctly. He speaks to your. Oh, what should it be called? What should it be called? What should it be? No, that's not good. Hold on. Okay, okay. He calls it. He calls it. So long as you have been recording observations in an encodrum. It was. [02:08:40] Speaker C: How do you spell that? [02:08:41] Speaker B: To the library. And the incoatrum is going to be inc. [02:08:47] Speaker C: Well, I can hold on. Sorry, I. My keyboard doesn't work. Inc. Nope, I'm in the wrong. [02:09:00] Speaker B: We're like smash cut to Abby's view, and she's just pressing the power button on her laptop, going, how does it work? Punching the mouse. Okay, okay. Inc. [02:09:12] Speaker C: Yes. Can there be no spaces in this word? [02:09:16] Speaker B: There are no spaces in this word. Inc. HOA T R U M I N C H O A T R. [02:09:26] Speaker C: U M. How do you pronounce in poetry? What does that mean? [02:09:33] Speaker B: Lectrum. Written text and inchoate, which means young and not fully developed or continuously growing. So a lectern of continuously growing text and information. [02:09:46] Speaker C: He thinks my Text isn't fully developed. [02:09:50] Speaker B: No, it's always developing. Anyway, as he. Thank you, Jackie. As he gestures, cheering. There is a silver chain at his side running around his waist. And you see that there is a very small metal booklet hanging from, like, a metal bottle. [02:10:09] Speaker C: He's got a baby. [02:10:11] Speaker B: And as he gestures his hand, his lifts and opens briefly as well, and closes. You get the feeling that in preference, he prefers this really small one and it looks quite a bit like yours, that flexible metal. And it falls down. He says, he's like, mulder, you. [02:10:29] Speaker A: Sorry. [02:10:30] Speaker B: Your addition to the library are of course appreciated, but they are automatic. If you have come here to teach, we are clearly glad to have you. And he smiles around at everyone in a series of visual responses to his. And you see that there are a couple. Like a couple people smile and, like, blink a little quickly, just like. As if this rapid blinking is like an affirmation here. [02:10:57] Speaker C: Oh, interesting. [02:10:59] Speaker D: Clapping. [02:11:00] Speaker A: It's all in the eye. [02:11:01] Speaker D: With their eyes. [02:11:03] Speaker B: They clap with their eyes, Essentially, yes. [02:11:07] Speaker D: Eyelids. [02:11:07] Speaker A: They're. They're way too quiet. [02:11:09] Speaker D: Slight flutter amongst the crowd as everybody's eyelashes. [02:11:14] Speaker B: You get 10,000 of them together and it just kind of sounds like. Like. Like the softest little skin. Oh, that's terrible thought. I hate that. [02:11:23] Speaker C: It's like a very soft, like, ew, Ew. [02:11:33] Speaker B: I'm the bad guy. So he. [02:11:39] Speaker C: So, can you remind me of the last thing that he said? [02:11:41] Speaker B: Yeah, because I also forgot I was trying to reorient myself as well after the. So he said, oh, that sound, boss, bothers you. I wonder what every noise every monster will make from now on. And then the dragon roars. No, I got Michael with that one. She's muted, but she's laughing so hard. [02:12:07] Speaker D: Oh, my gosh. [02:12:11] Speaker B: So the high curator continues, and he says, your contributions are appreciated, but they are automatic to the library. We were curious more if you had any affairs of your own, if you had come to join our faculty, or if in your passing study, you had need of our resources. You are a bit new to our order. Not only you as an individual, but we've never had a curator arise like this, never had it not dubbed in this way. This conversation also need not be public. And he kind of smiles at everyone. And a couple of the figures look a little sheepish and take some polite steps back. [02:13:14] Speaker C: Greta nods and she looks at Boz, who I know is not here. [02:13:21] Speaker B: Boz looks at you. [02:13:23] Speaker C: She looks at Boz and she says, I want to do everything I can to contribute to the. What does he call Them. The libraries. [02:13:38] Speaker B: The library. They're the students of Ioun. Oh, the. He called them the faculty of. The faculty of the students. It was just, like a term for, like, those of us employed in the study of information. [02:13:54] Speaker C: He said. I'm asking when he said that, like, everything that I record in my. [02:14:01] Speaker B: Oh, I'm sorry. In coatrum. [02:14:04] Speaker C: In Coatrum. Everything that I record in my. In. I'm gonna write it so I can. [02:14:10] Speaker B: Oh. [02:14:11] Speaker A: Oh. [02:14:11] Speaker B: Dab on him, Michael. Oh, no. Oh, no. I blocked her sneeze. I'm so sorry. It's coming back for round two. She's giggling. [02:14:23] Speaker C: What was. [02:14:25] Speaker D: He's gone. [02:14:27] Speaker B: I'm sorry. [02:14:29] Speaker C: When he was like, we already have everything that you put in your enco. What did he. [02:14:38] Speaker B: They. [02:14:38] Speaker C: So it all goes from the enco to where? [02:14:42] Speaker B: Cloud did not specify. [02:14:44] Speaker C: Okay. I think he did. I'm just so. She's gonna. She's gonna say, I think. I think she looks. She says, I'm. I may also, after a discussion with Traveler, have information I didn't include in my notes. [02:15:12] Speaker B: And a conversation. [02:15:15] Speaker C: Wait, what did he say? [02:15:17] Speaker B: I repeat, he says, absolutely, Curator. Is this a conversation that you would like to have with other curators in the heart of the library, or does this need to be had more privately in a council? [02:15:34] Speaker C: Jiggly dangit. Um, I'll need to discuss privately with my. Of party Discussion. [02:15:45] Speaker B: He would say, privacy. Dang it. [02:15:49] Speaker C: I will need privacy within my party to discuss after that. I would love to discuss with. In the library. [02:15:57] Speaker B: Is there a name for which we should be correctly referring to your group? [02:16:05] Speaker C: Greta kind of smiles bashfully, and she says, we are the fun guys. [02:16:15] Speaker B: People are writing that down and writing all around. [02:16:18] Speaker A: They live literally under the rock. [02:16:21] Speaker B: The high Curator, like, kind of. He looks like, oh, okay. And nods and Boz just turns and his. His elongated toe tendril roots pull up out of the dirt. I was talking in the dirt. The high curator says, the fun guys it is. We will all depart from the fun guys for a time. And everyone around, like, nods kind of like, okay. And he says, you have only two Call to me through your symbol. Let me know at the. Which you arrive. [02:17:06] Speaker C: I would respond, thank you. [02:17:11] Speaker A: She ascending stone. [02:17:15] Speaker C: Yeah, that's it. [02:17:17] Speaker B: He just gives you a very neutral smile. The amber in the middle of his symbol kind of catches a little light, and his wings just. [02:17:26] Speaker C: Whoa. [02:17:27] Speaker B: Lift him up. [02:17:28] Speaker D: And he just. [02:17:29] Speaker B: He, like. He, like, gets a couple thrusting blows that, like, beats that blow your clothes back a little bit. Then he just glides out of the room and Everyone else kind of like, nods. Everyone turns to you and gives you those long blinks as if your symbol was all the verification you needed. But for those of you who are not, you get the feeling that curators are, like, very important here and there must not the. The more experienced people. People here seem to know them all by sight, if not the majority of people. So your presence is very new. So everyone was, like, looking to your symbol and getting it. But you get the feeling this entire interaction here with the yet unnamed high curator is very validating to whatever position you've inherited. And people are all giving you, like, the blinks. And some people go so far as to, like, blink and nod their head. And there's a lot of muttering in old common as people, like, touch the symbols on their neck and start to, like, walk away. And the crowd disperses from you, leaving you all alone in this garden area. We'll have you guys all talk to each other briefly, and then we'll make that the end of the session. [02:18:32] Speaker C: Okay. [02:18:33] Speaker B: And. And we'll go on our usual potty break and then come back for round dose. But. [02:18:41] Speaker C: Okay. [02:18:42] Speaker B: The party can just have a second to speak with each other in the garden area. [02:18:45] Speaker C: So I have a dilemma. And my dilemma is this is me, Abby. I'm speaking to my friends that I love. [02:18:54] Speaker A: Hey, this is Jackie speaking, not Ro. Ro is my severed innie. [02:19:05] Speaker C: Hi, my name is Abby. I'm cleric. I. My. I'm. I'm concerned. So I. Well, I need to talk to Landon before I go talk to people because I. Greg, they already know everything that's in the book, so I don't have any. The only new information I have for them is the stuff I have memorized in my brain from the lost ones. And I get the feeling that they are interested in more than just ecology. And Greta remembers a lot of the ecology. I just. [02:19:44] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:19:45] Speaker D: Yeah. [02:19:46] Speaker B: Well, how about this? Oh, I'm sorry. Everyone else go. I'm not the only person here. Everyone's important. [02:19:52] Speaker A: I was just gonna say you do also have to give them the. The book. The big. The Big Book of Knowledge. [02:20:05] Speaker B: And that's Jackie around? Well, one of the 40 reasons, but. [02:20:09] Speaker A: That'S a thing that we must. You must do. So that is a. [02:20:14] Speaker B: That's worth doing. Also on break. You could just call Landon real quick and ask. [02:20:20] Speaker C: I might call him, but it's 10:30 where he live. [02:20:23] Speaker A: But I figured that. But I figured that they. I mean, I know. Didn't we already kind of know that they were probably receiving that information or at least Ioun was. So I feel like if you're working with, like, a bargaining chip, if that's what you're trying. Is that what you're saying? Like, I mean, you've given them a lot through that. [02:20:45] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:20:45] Speaker A: If that's what you're worried about. [02:20:47] Speaker C: I just don't know. Like, I don't want to be like you guys. I'm just. Yeah, okay. Okay. Okay. [02:20:55] Speaker A: But, yeah, you could just call Landis. [02:20:57] Speaker B: Okay. Okay. Okay. Also, you might have a couple other things worth talking to them about. [02:21:03] Speaker C: Right. But I, like, I don't want to. Like, we have a lot of secret, and I trust these people, I think, but it's like, I don't know what we should expose. [02:21:15] Speaker B: Not to put too much pressure on you, Abby, and you could totally talk with Landon about this over break, but at some point, some of this gets to be your call, too. So at some point, this gets to be the call of the players who showed up to the session. And, yes, I would probably not lead in with, like, all right, here's the skinny on this boss guy. Like, that's probably not where we want to go right off the bat. Right? [02:21:33] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:21:34] Speaker B: But, yeah, yeah, only Landon gets to own the governance of the knowledge you guys have, and it's not a competition. But, yeah, yeah, I mean, like, there is no diss to Landon. Landon understands this ethic, and it. It pervades for when Jackie's not here, for when Mike is not here, for when Abby's not here. But the people who show up to the table are the people who get to interact with the story. And that's not punitive. It's not discriminatory. It's just. It's okay. That's how the story works. That's all right. [02:21:58] Speaker A: And there's other stuff, because I know you're worried about telling them anything about the Lost Lands, because you would. Greta had, like, promised Boz not to or whatever, but, I mean, we can. There's stuff with, like, that they might want to know about. Like, Craig's armor. They might want to know about why Ro and Boz. Like, I don't know how much they know about half dryads. And if Greta wanted to talk to Ro about that, if they wanted to take some of her flowers and study her. Like, if you need stuff, like, you. [02:22:37] Speaker B: Guys have all sorts of chill with. [02:22:38] Speaker A: Like, giving info out, you know, Row is an open book. I'm just throwing that out there. If you need me to crank up some knowledge, I'll give them some songs they can write down. [02:22:55] Speaker C: I just don't know about, like, stuff with the maker. Like, I don't know if I want to share stuff about the. Well, I guess this is stuff that I. Greta will have to decide in her little. [02:23:04] Speaker A: Yeah. And we can talk about it in session, too. I mean. [02:23:08] Speaker C: Yeah, I know. [02:23:10] Speaker A: I know boss has. I'm saying that. But also, I mean, just like Craig and Ro have mentioned the maker and other instances. It's. [02:23:20] Speaker D: You get the right. [02:23:21] Speaker A: What you feel. I mean, like, how you guys went. [02:23:23] Speaker B: Back to port as funny saw and Ro was like, hey, you three at the table over there with a sword want to know some secrets you're not ready for? I mean, you know, it's. There's a precedent for this. [02:23:33] Speaker A: I just, I like, I think if anyone. I mean, they are a like a religious order. I mean, when we went to Ceylon, like the temple of saloon. I mean, I would even say more so here. I would be more comfortable because they obviously guard this knowledge. This could be even in session talking. This could be Roe saying this. Like, they obviously guard. [02:24:03] Speaker B: Boom, we're back in character. [02:24:04] Speaker A: They obviously guard their information quite a bit. Like. Yeah, I mean, I would be more like, I would feel more comfortable giving them knowledge about all that. And they may already know that knowledge. [02:24:19] Speaker C: Yeah, that's. [02:24:20] Speaker A: I mean, maybe we don't give them all the secrets of, like, the Manabus, but we could tell them our experiences. But you are the cleric of iron, so, I mean, it's ultimately your choice. [02:24:33] Speaker C: It's hard because I. [02:24:35] Speaker A: It's a God. [02:24:39] Speaker C: Yeah. It's not Ion. I worry about. Obviously. It's the truth. You know, I just. [02:24:46] Speaker D: Yeah. [02:24:48] Speaker C: And I worry about, like, oh, do you guys. Yeah. Did you guys know that the world is round and you're like, oh, we've known that for so long. You know, I, I. [02:24:58] Speaker A: And you can test the waters with that. With that kind of thing. Be like, here's some stuff or, like. [02:25:06] Speaker C: I don't know how much we should tell about old or about, like, you know, what we know about. Oh, the heat fall and about Shister. [02:25:22] Speaker A: You know, I mean. [02:25:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:25:25] Speaker A: They seem nifty. I feel like. I don't think. [02:25:31] Speaker C: I don't think you would appreciate us sharing that. [02:25:33] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:25:33] Speaker A: Maybe not. Maybe not. Stuff on, like. [02:25:35] Speaker B: I think Micah's just going down the list of things you probably shouldn't say. [02:25:42] Speaker C: Sorry. Go ahead, Jackie. [02:25:43] Speaker A: No, I was just gonna say. But I mean, I feel like they would be good allies, just like the manifest is or any. I mean, they hold a lot of the Knowledge of yallibrn. Right. So wouldn't they be some of the best people to tell about possibly the second or however many whatever downfall of Yalabran if it were to come so they can prepare? You know, I don't know how old this order is as far as, like, do they have the knowledge from, like, the last time it happened? [02:26:23] Speaker B: Craig, you're surprisingly wise in some of these moments. Do you have any perspective here? [02:26:30] Speaker D: I'd say that while it appears to be safe and reliable, I would say there's never an issue with asking questions to gauge what kind of authority you're working with. Working with. Because while he might feel safe, you don't know who he works with or you don't know who he hoots with. And while religious orders seem to be pure, we know from history that sometimes they're not. [02:26:59] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:27:01] Speaker D: So I would say proceed with caution, but don't be afraid to, like, share a tiny bit. [02:27:10] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. And I'll. Yeah. What do you think about the library in the temple that we found. [02:27:23] Speaker A: One on the westward? [02:27:25] Speaker C: Yeah. Do you think that's too much? [02:27:31] Speaker A: I mean, I don't know. I guess maybe you could lead with the fact that we found it and there's, you know, signs from the old times and deep speech and all, and kind of judge from there how much you want to tell them after their reaction. [02:27:49] Speaker D: I agree. I agree. [02:27:51] Speaker C: Yeah. Okay. [02:27:58] Speaker D: We got out. It's pretty big. [02:28:05] Speaker C: Craig, what do you think about sharing about old? [02:28:10] Speaker D: I think old is pretty safe and sound at this point, so I don't think we have to worry about, like, his safety or anything. [02:28:18] Speaker C: Do you think that's. [02:28:21] Speaker D: I think. Feel it out. Beginning with very vague information. Be very careful. Sheep. Wolves in sheep clothing is all. I'll say. [02:28:35] Speaker C: So are you getting weird vibes? [02:28:39] Speaker D: I'm not. But you never know when someone might pull something over you and get what they want and then leave you to dust. So use your discernment style. Start vague. Just gauge what they know, ask them questions and. [02:28:58] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:29:01] Speaker D: You'Re pretty perceptive. I trust your gut. I really do. [02:29:05] Speaker C: I'm having. Sometimes I just have trouble, like, I'm still grasping insight and trying to figure that stuff out. Oh, well, I. Yeah. [02:29:22] Speaker A: I mean, and if. If, like, we're. We're here with you, Greta, like, you don't have to be the one to tell all. If you want to hand over the torch to Craig when it comes to old or. Or, yeah, you know, whatever, that's perfectly fine. [02:29:37] Speaker C: I'm not gonna tell you guys stories you know, I think you guys have. I mean, we all kind of share information here, but, like, I won't share about old, and I won't. I'm not gonna sing, you know, your songs for them. Ro. [02:29:55] Speaker A: Did anyone else think it was weird, though? Like, I mean, I know they're like on the edge of the world or whatever, right? And they live literally underground, but they're. They're like. They're supposed to be like knowledge, right? Yeah, like they knew who you were and you were coming, but he didn't know the fun guys, which I. You know, I've gotten past that. I don't have as big of a head as I used to, but I find it weird. Okay. I find it weird. [02:30:25] Speaker C: I do, too. [02:30:26] Speaker A: This. This students of Iun, or however he said it that are supposed to be knowledgeable, didn't know our names. I'm just. [02:30:33] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:30:34] Speaker A: I mean, besides that, I got no funny feelings, but I just thought it was weird. [02:30:41] Speaker C: You know, and they've already. [02:30:45] Speaker D: They are pretty isolated. [02:30:49] Speaker C: Yeah. They've already seen the symbol of the maker too. So I'm assuming that if no one asks about it, there's at least sketches. [02:30:58] Speaker A: True. [02:31:00] Speaker C: But. [02:31:03] Speaker B: Does the party feel as though they have reached a freely logical conclusion in their preparatory discussion? Okay, well, then, as the fun guys prepare themselves to have some sort of a meeting with whoever the. Whoever the ruling order of the students of Ioun are, that is where we will end. Episode 134. Greater than Gold. Idea being that knowledge is of even greater value than gold here. You know what I mean? [02:31:40] Speaker A: Wow. [02:31:41] Speaker B: That was the point of that title. Didn't have to say it out loud. Okay, listeners, life is an incredible adventure. You are an important part of it. Thank you for coming. I should really say that thing last. Why don't I say that last? That's the closing line. Thank you for listening to another episode. We're gonna go pee pee poo poo. And then we'll come back for another episode and we'll see whether or not Craig and. Yeah, I really ran out of place to stay there. And you're an important part of it. Skibidi whop.